Finding His Past
by jenc1592
Summary: Harry Potter disappeared ten years ago and is presumed dead. He has returned with his son and has no memories of his magical past. Can his friends and his daughter help him remember? What will happen when his enemies find out he has returned? COMPLETED!
1. I'm Ready

Prologue

The weary young man was in a cell-like circular room void of windows. Several candles placed in sconces hung on the stone walls and provided the only light to the small space. Loneliness along with grief enveloped him despite the presence of another man. The other person, an elderly man wearing navy blue robes, was staring intently at him with intelligence and sympathy shining in his blue eyes. Both men were seated in simple wooden chairs placed on opposite sides of a scarred table.

The older man was first to break the heavy silence, "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"I don't know any other way to keep them safe. I have put too many people whom I love in danger for too long and I won't do it anymore. I can't do it anymore," he rubbed a hand across his bloodshot eyes. "As long as I am with them, they will be in danger. No matter how much it might hurt me, this will be better for them."

"If you are sure, then I will contact the necessary people and the process can be completed in less than an hour. I wish that I didn't agree with you but I fear you may be correct. I wish there was some way you could keep the memory of how proud we all are of you and how much you are truly loved." The older man placed one of his aged hands over the younger man's hand. "Is there anything you want to do before the process is started?"

"One thing, sir, is there anyway I can see them one last time?"

"Absolutely," the older man waved a wand and a mirror appeared on the table. Reflected in the mirror was not the image of the room in which they sat. Instead pictured, was a young woman with beautiful red hair; in her arms was a small girl with red curls and vivid green eyes. The young woman was sitting in a rocking chair and was singing to the young girl. He reached his hand out to the images and touched the cool glass. A single tear ran down his cheek. He brushed the tear away and looked up at the older man.

"I'm ready."

"Very well, I will return shortly." With a loud "pop" the older man was gone.

"Ring . . . ring . . . ring" The sound of the telephone pulled Harrison Palmer from the odd dream he had been having. Actually, he had been having the same dream every night for several weeks. It always ended at the same point, when the older man disappeared. He wondered if it meant anything.

He reached over to answer the phone and forgot about the dream. After finishing the phone call, he got out of bed and prepared to start his day. One more day and then he would be on vacation from work for a month. He could not wait, it would be his first vacation in five years and he was taking a trip to England with his son.


	2. It's Here

1Chapter One

For not the first time this summer, Jamie Potter scanned the gray, cloud filled skies near her home. She had turned eleven two months ago and she had been waiting impatiently ever since for a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All of her relatives had attended the school and Jamie had heard stories about their adventures at school her whole life. Becoming a student at the school was made even more exciting because her best friend, and cousin, Georgia Weasley, would be starting with her. Suddenly off in the distance, Jamie saw a dark shape in the sky. As it got closer, she was able to tell that it was indeed an owl. Could it possibly be bringing my letter? she thought to herself. As the owl continued to get closer, she felt her heart race. She crossed her fingers and wished with her whole heart that it was her letter.

The owl flew through the open kitchen window and landed on the table in front of her, knocking over her glass of orange juice in the process. It held out a leg with a rolled piece of parchment attached. Jamie reached out with a shaky hand and untied the letter. Once the letter was removed, the owl took flight and headed out the window to return to Hogwarts. She unfolded the letter and read:

Dear Ms. Potter:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed you will find a supply list

Classes begin on September 1 and we await your response no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,  
Minerva McConagall  
Deputy Headmistress.

"Mum, mum, it's here, it came!" a very excited Jamie ran through the small home she shared with her mother, Ginny. "Mum, where are you? I want to show you something. Mum!"

"Jamie, calm down, honey. I'm right here. What are you yelling about? Whatever "it" is I think everyone in the neighborhood knows it came," Ginny asked as she entered the living room.

"Oh, mum, I'm so excited," Jamie exclaimed as she wrapped her thin arms around her mother. "My Hogwart's letter is here! Look, look!" Jamie continued to shout as she waved the parchment under her mother's face and danced excitedly in circles around the cozy room.

"Oh, my baby is growing up so fast." Ginny sniffed. "I can't believe you are old enough to go to Hogwarts. Your father would have been so proud of you, darling." It was times like these that she missed her husband so much.

Jamie gave a slight roll of her eyes. Her mother could get so emotional about her growing up. At least she not as bad as grandma, Jamie thought.  
Ginny wiped a tear away as she continued, "Let me see your list of supplies. We will probably need to go to Diagon Alley to get some of them."

"Here, I think this one is the supply list, mum," She handed her mother a sheet of parchment. "Can I, please, go and tell Georgia and see if she got her letter, too? Maybe we can go to Diagon Alley together."

"Sure, actually I think I will come with you," Ginny answered her daughter and continued, "I have not visited with Hermione in a long time

After a short walk, they reached Jamie's Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's house. Their house was large and there were various toys laying in the yard. Two small red-haired, identical girls ran through the yard and yelled greetings to Ginny and Jamie. Following after them was a tiny girl with bushy brown hair. Suddenly the front doors were opened and out stepped Jamie's best friend, her cousin Georgia. Georgia ran down the walkway as they approached the front gate.

"Did you get your letter?" a very excited Georgia squealed. When Jamie nodded, Georgia threw her arms around her. Jamie joined in the squealing and the two girls bounced up and down together.

"Girls, I know you're excited but please calm down. I just got Matthew to fall asleep," Georgia's mother Hermione spoke from the doorway. "Ginny, Jamie, how are you, come on in. I was going to have some tea, would you two like to join us?"

Ginny smiled at her sister-in-law, answering, "Sure, I thought maybe we could plan a little family shopping trip before school starts for the kids."

Jamie also smiled at her aunt and replied, "Yes, please. Do you think you could tell us some stories about Hogwarts? Especially if you have any dirt on my mum! Oh and my dad!" Jamie gave her mum a sly smile. "She never tells me any of the good stuff."

The group made their way into the kitchen and settled themselves around the table. Hermione conjured up some tea and cakes for everyone. A short time later, the front door opened and Ron entered. His youngest daughter, Jocelyn, was riding on his shoulders and the twins were following close behind. Each of the three children was trying to gain her father's undivided attention. A frazzled looking Ron made his way to his wife and gave her a quick kiss hello. He placed Jocelyn on her mother's lap and sat in the chair next to her. Immediately both twins fought over who was going to sit beside him.

Hermione came to his rescue, "Dannie, Carrie, if you two cannot be civilized you can go back outside."

Not wanting to miss out on anything the twins became quiet. Danielle sat in the chair next to her father and gave her sister a smug look. Carolyn took the seat next to her Aunt Ginny and stuck her tongue out at Dannie. Once everyone was seated, Georgia looked at her dad and very excitedly told him, "Guess what dad, me and Jamie got our Hogwarts letters. Do you want to see mine?"

"That's wonderful, pumpkin. I would love to see it."

Georgia jumped up and made her way to the other side of the table. She pulled her letter out of her pocket and handed it to her dad. "This is it dad. Mum has the supply list, she was worried I might lose it."

"This brings back a lot of memories," he told his daughter after reading the letter. "I remember when I got mine, I was so excited because I was finally going to school with my brothers. Do you remember how you cried when I got it, Gin?" he teased his sister.

"Yeah, I remember, I was so jealous that you were going to school and I had to stay home with just mum and dad."

Hermione spoke up, "You should have seen my parents when I got my letter. I was the first witch in my family so McGonagall delivered mine in person so she could answer any questions and explain everything. It took her a while to convince my dad it was all real. I think it was transforming into a cat that convinced him."

The conversation continued with each of the adults telling the children many stories. There was a lot of laughter and a few tears. At one point Hermione went upstairs when the baby, Matthew, woke up. She returned in a few minutes with a happy, little red haired boy in her arms. Ron asked Ginny and Jamie to stay for dinner and the family decided to eat outdoors. After eating, the older kids played on their broomsticks until it got too dark to see.

When Ginny and Jamie were getting ready to go, Hermione pulled Jamie aside. She handed a photo album to Jamie and told her, "I put this together many years ago for you, sweetie, there are pictures of your dad in there. I've been waiting to give it to you and I feel like this is the perfect time. He would have been so proud of you, Jamie. And he loved you so much."

Jamie thanked her aunt and Hermione gave her niece a big hug and a kiss on top of her head. Ron and Ginny made their way over to the pair.

"Georgia took Josie and Matt inside but she said to tell you good by Jamie and that she will see you tomorrow." Ron told Jamie.

Ginny thanked Ron and Hermione for dinner. She and Hermione promised to get together to take the girls shopping for school the next week. Finally, Ginny and Jamie went out the front gate and turned left to make their way home. If they had left a moment later, they would have seen the man walking towards the Weasley's house from the other direction.


	3. Dad!

1He paused in front of the large brick home, which was oddly familiar to him. Obviously he had never been here he told himself yet he could not help but feel like he had. It was not that he recognized the house; it was more of a feeling. A feeling of comfort and familiarity, it strangely felt like coming home. But that was absurd, he thought to himself, he had spent his entire life in Midwest of the US so how could a house in England feel like home?

As he stood there, staring at the house a light came on in the front room. A family was gathered in the room. The scene in the large picture window mesmerized him. A man who he assumed to be the father of the family was a tall red head who was tickling two identical young girls who also had heads full of bright red hair. On the sofa, a woman with lots of brown hair was deep in conversation with another red head, this one a girl of about twelve. Sleeping on the woman's lap was a boy who looked to be about a year old. The boy was a small copy of the tall man. The final occupant of the room was the only child without red hair, a small girl with the same bushy hair as the mother. This child was sitting next to her mother looking at a photo album.

He did not know how long he stood there but after a while the woman stood up and all but the oldest child followed her upstairs. While she was gone, the father sat next to his daughter and picked up the photo album the other girl had been looking at. The girl snuggled up next to her father and he began pointing out photos and talking animatedly to her. It appeared that he was reliving memories for his daughter. Often something would cause him to laugh heartily and a few pictures brought a sad smile to his face.

After a while, the mother returned. She smiled at her husband and daughter as she made her way to join them on the sofa. However, on the way past the window something appeared to catch her eye. She walked to the window and peered out.

He quickly stepped further back into the shadows so as not to be seen. The last thing he wanted to do was to scare the family. After almost being caught, he decided to make his way back to the inn where he and his son, Jason, were staying. The time difference had made it difficult for him to sleep and after Jason had fallen asleep, he had decided to take a walk. That was how he had come upon the house and family. 

------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Voices coming from down the hall broke through Jamie's sleep. Jamie groaned and snuggled further under her scarlet and gold quilt. Finally, Jamie gave up on going back to sleep and squinted at her bedside clock. 11:00! She could not believe she had slept so late! When she and her mum had returned from the Weasley's last night it had been late and Ginny had gone to bed. Jamie however had stayed awake until the early morning hours looking at the photo album her aunt had given her. She loved looking at the pictures of her parents, especially her dad. He had looked so young and happy but yet seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Jamie noticed that often his smiles did not reach his emerald eyes.

She reached for her glasses and put them on as she swung her legs over the side of her four poster bed. After slipping her feet into a pair of fuzzy slippers, she padded down the hall to find out who belonged to the voices. Entering the kitchen, she found her mum, Uncle Fred, and Grandma Molly. From what Jamie had been told it used to have been impossible to tell her Uncle Fred and Uncle George apart but now George had a prominent scar on his left cheek and walked with a strong limp. He had got both when he had thrown himself in front of Hermione who was being attacked by some nasty Death Eaters. This had been before her dad had defeated Voldemort and the dark wizards were trying to get rid of everyone who was opposed to them. At the time Hermione was very pregnant with her first child and unable to fight back as well as she normally could. George had saved both her and the baby. That was how Georgia had gotten her name.

The adults were seated around the table drinking cups of tea when Jamie entered the room.

Fred was the first to see her. "So she is alive, thought you were never going to get up, kid," he teased his niece.

"Hey, Uncle Fred. Hi Grandma. What are you guys doing here?" Jamie gave her grandma a quick hug and sat down next to her mum.

"Well, your Uncle Ron fell off his broom again at Quidditch practice," Fred answered her question. "Anyway they took him to St. Mungo's, the rest of the family is there. Since your grandma was visiting with your mum when we got the news, I came to escort you lovely ladies there."

"Oh no, is he okay?" she questioned the adults.

"Yes, sweetie, he is going to be fine. He will probably have a raging headache for a while, but he'll be fine. It was just a precaution to take him to St. Mungo's. We can't have any serious damage done to the famous Keeper for the Canons and if his fans found out they didn't take his injury serious they might riot or something," Ginny told her daughter. "Why don't you get dressed and we will head over and visit him?" 

Jamie ran off to her room to get ready. Despite her mother's reassurances, she was still worried about her favorite uncle and wanted to see with her own eyes that he was okay. Hastily she grabbed a pair of jeans and a Chudley Cannons tee shirt and slipped them on. Jamie kept a collection of cards in her desk and grabbed a 'Get Well Soon' one for Ron. She quicky scrawled her name in the card and stuffed it into an envelope. She pulled her long, curly hair into a pony tail as she made her way back to the kitchen so they could leave.

"Are you ready sweetheart?" her grandma asked when she rejoined them.

"Yep, how are we going to get there? Are we going to Floo?"

"No, we are running a little low on Floo powder, so we are going to go in Uncle Fred's car. If we have time while we're out we should stop at Diagon Alley and pick some up," Ginny responded.

Jamie was actually relieved not to be using the Floo Network to get to St. Mungo's. It always made her feel a little nauseous and she very rarely landed on her feet. Usually she landed in a heap on the floor, not only was that embarrassing but was usually also painful.

The group made there way to Uncle Fred's flying car and set off to St. Mungo's. After a short trip, he landed the car and turned off the invisibility booster so they would be able to find the car when it was time to leave. A short way down the street, Jamie realized she had forgotten her card in the car. The adults agreed to let her run back and get it alone, since that would be quicker. They promised to wait where they were for her.

Jamie ran quickly back to the car with Uncle Fred's keys in her hand. She grabbed the card and turned to head back to her family. As she ran around the corner, she collided with a small boy with dark hair. Both kids went sprawling onto the sidewalk. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you? Are you okay," Jamie asked the boy. She picked up her glasses and sighed when she saw they were cracked. Oh, well she would just have to ask her mum or grandma to fix them. It's going to be great when I learn how to do that myself, she thought.

She put her glasses back on and looked at the boy. Jamie gasped when she got a good look at him. He looked just like her dad! He had the same messy black hair and his eyes were identical to both her dad's and Jamie's own. But how could that be? Just then a man came around the corner.

"Jason, where are you? Oh, there you are, I told you not to go running off like that. Are you kids okay?" he reached down to help them both up. 

Jamie was still staring at the boy and did not immediately look up at his father. When she finally looked up at him, she paled and exclaimed, "Dad?" The world went black as she fainted.


	4. Who Are You?

1Jamie could faintly hear someone who sounded far away, talking to her, "Miss, are you okay? Jason, did she hit her head when you guys fell?"

"I don't think so, Dad. I mean she landed on me and I've got the bruise to prove it."

She slowly pried open her eyes. The sun was directly behind the man kneeling next to her and she could not make out any of his features. He reached a hand out to help her as she struggled to sit up.

"Jamie, where are you? Jae," Jamie heard her Uncle Fred calling for her.

Fred made his way around the corner where Jamie was sitting with her back against the brick wall of a building. He quickly walked to her and knelt down to ensure she was okay.

"What happened? Are you okay, sweetie?" he inquired gently.

"Yea, I'm okay. I just ran into this boy and knocked us both down. But his dad came to help us and he reminded me of someone. I guess I fainted or something. I'm fine now, sorry if I worried you," Jamie reassured him.

Fred helped his niece to her feet. When they were both standing, he reached to shake hands with the man who had helped Jamie.

"Thanks," Fred began, he then gaped at the man and exclaimed, "Bloody hell! Who are you?" "Harry?" he asked in a shocked voice. Now it was Fred who looked like he was going to faint.

Jason spoke up and asked, "Dad, why do these people think they know you? Do you know them?"

He placed a hand on his son's shoulder and answered, "I don't know, son, but I'm pretty sure I've never met either of them before." He looked at Fred and continued, "I'm sorry, sir, you must have me confused with someone else. My name is Harrison Palmer and this is my son, Jason. So actually you were close on the name. But we're just here on vacation from Cleveland. Although the girl called me 'dad' so maybe I look like her father or something."

Fred continued to stare, saying, "You don't just look like her father, you could be his twin. And I know twins, seeing as I am one myself. Seriously, something is going on, you are too much like Harry for there not to be something going on." Fred's demeanor changed suddenly. He whipped his wand out and pointed it at Harrison's chest, "I want some answers and I want them now. Who are you and what are you trying to do?"

Harrison pushed his son behind him and took several steps backward. Glaring at Fred, he replied, "I don't have any idea what you are talking about but I've already told you my name is Harrison Palmer and I am on vacation with my son. Now I would appreciate it if you would stop pointing that thing at me."  
"I gave you your chance to do this the easy way but I see that is not going to work with you. So we'll just do it the hard way then. Stupefy!" The spell hit Harrison in the middle of his chest and he instantly crumbled to the ground in a heap just as Ginny came around the corner.

"Fred Weasley, what do you think you are doing?" Ginny shrieked at her brother. "You know this is a Muggle street, anyone could have seen you!" Despite being several inches shorter, she smacked him upside his head.

"Ow, before you go acting like mum let me explain," he exclaimed rubbing the back of his head.

She gave Fred a nasty look and addressed Jamie,"Sweetheart, are you okay we were worried when it took so long for you to come back."

Before Jamie was able to answer her mother, Jason lunged at Fred and was wildly hitting and kicking him. Fred was not having much luck deflecting the blows. Jamie and Ginny stared at the two as Jason continued shouting "What did you do to my dad? I'm going to make you pay for that!"

Ginny stepped in to rescue her brother. She grabbed one of Jason's arms and tried to pull him away from Fred.

"Jamie, help me. Grab his other arm."

Jamie and Ginny finally managed to pull a furious Jason off of Fred. Ginny spoke gently but firmly to Jason. "Hon, your dad's going to be okay. I promise, just calm down okay." Keeping a hold of Jason's arm, Ginny looked back to her brother, "Would you please tell me what is going on here and what possessed you to stun this boy's father?"

"I think if you would just take a look at his father, you will understand," Fred said defensively as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Fine, don't tell me. I'll figure it out myself," she gave her brother another glare before glancing at the man on the ground.

She gasped and instantly paled so that her freckles stood out dramatically. Fred quickly stepped to her side to prevent her from collapsing. Ginny looked from Harrison back to her brother several times, finally she spoke, "What? I mean how? Fred is that, is that Harry?" she finished in a whisper.

"I'm not sure. I mean we all agree he looks like Harry but how could that be? And he keeps saying his name is Harrison."

"That's because his name is Harrison," Jason shrieked.

Ginny recovered and looked at Jason,"I know sweetheart, but he looks strikingly like my husband who has been missing for ten years. So we're a little surprised to see someone who reminds us of him so much. We would really like to talk to your dad and find out what's going on. Just ask him a few questions, okay?" She then turned around to speak to Fred. "Do you think we should take him to St. Mungo's and see what everyone else thinks before we wake him up?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Hermione might be able to figure this out. She is the smart one of the bunch after all," Fred agreed. "How should we get him there though? The kids can't apparate and I don't know if it would be a good idea to levitate him the whole way there, I think someone might notice."

"Okay, lets see," Ginny pondered. "Why don't I make a portkey. I think I remember how to make one." She reached into her bag and pulled out a gum wrapper. "Here we can use this."

"Great," Fred mumbled as Ginny began the process of making a portkey. "She thinks she can make one. Who knows where we will end up?"

Jamie smiled at her uncle. She was still trying to figure out what was going on and it made her feel better that her uncle was not taking things too seriously. Of course her Uncle Fred and Uncle George rarely took anything serious. She then looked over at Jason who was looking both worried and completely bewildered.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. Uncle Fred was just kidding. Mum knows how to make a portkey and we'll get to St. Mungo's just fine. Then your dad'll wake up and we can figure out what's going on."

Jason continued to look confused, "Okay, but what's a portkey?"

Before Jamie could answer him, Ginny called them over, saying the portkey was ready. Jamie, Jason, and Fred joined Ginny next to Harrison. She laid the gum wrapper on his chest and she, Jamie, and Fred reached out and touched the portkey.

Jamie looked at Jason, "Just touch the gum wrapper and relax."

Jason reached out to grab a hold as well. Ginny addressed everyone around her, "Well, ready or not, here we go." As soon as she said the words, Jamie felt the familiar tug behind her navel.


	5. It's You!

1A/N- As you will probably notice there are a few details in this story that are not consistent with HPB. I wrote this before it was released; some things I've gone back and fixed but others would change the overall plot so I'm going to leave them.

Thanks for the kind reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Four

Jamie landed hard with something that felt like a doorknob jabbing her in the back. She could not get a deep breath because there was something heavy on her chest. It was pitch black and just as Jamie was starting to panic she heard Fred grumbling, "Get off of me, I can't breathe."

Ginny answered her brother, "I'm trying but someone is on my leg and I can't get up."

"Sorry, mum, I think I'm on your leg but I'm stuck because someone is sitting on my chest."

"Sorry, but I don't have any room to move," Jason apologized.

"Well, you're all on me and I CAN'T BREATHE SO GET OFF," Fred screeched.

"Shut up, Fred," Ginny hollered at her brother.

"You shut up, Ginny. It's your fault we're stuck like this," he retaliated.

Suddenly, the door behind Jamie was pulled open. Once again, she and Jason found themselves sprawled on the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. This time instead of being on the sidewalk, they were in the hallway of St. Mungo's Hospital. She looked up and found her Grandpa looking at them questioningly. However, after a lifetime spent with the Weasly clan, he simply reached down and helped both kids to their feet. The kids both dusted themselves off once they were back on their feet. 

"Is everyone okay? And may I ask why are you all coming in through a broom closet?"

Ginny and Fred were still arguing so Jamie answered her grandpa, "I think we're all fine. We had to come this way because we," she indicated herself and Jason "can't apparate and we brought someone with us. Oh, and this is Jason."

"Nice to meet you Jason, I'm Jamie's grandpa. You can call me Arthur." He reached to shake hands with Jason. Still looking bewildered, Jason shook his hand. Arthur continued to ignore his own children still arguing on the floor of the closet and instead chose to speak to Jason, "So, Jason, you look rather familiar to me, have I met you before?"

"No, sir, I don't think so. I'm just here on vacation with my dad." Jason politely answered Arthur.  
Arthur looked satisfied with that answer and turned as his wife entered the hallway. Molly made her way over to Jamie and embraced her in a huge hug. "Darling, what happened? I was so worried especially after Fred and then Ginny didn't return."

"We're okay Grandma, we just ran into some people and brought them with us."

Molly then noticed Jason, "Hello, dear. Are you a friend of Jamie's?" Before he could answer her, she exclaimed, "Merlin's beard! Arthur, look at him. He looks just like Harry did when we first met him."

"I knew he reminded me of someone. That's who it is."

Finally, Fred and Ginny quit arguing and joined them, although they continued to glare at each other. Molly looked at her children, "Fred, Ginny what is wrong with you two. I swear you both act like you are still children. And what possessed you to come in through a broom closet?"

"Why don't you ask dear Ginerva here why she made the portkey to take us into a closet?" Fred answered.

"Shut up, Fred," Ginny grumbled. "Hi mum, dad. We came by portkey and I accidently sent us to a closet," she explained sheepishly.

"Why did you use a portkey?" Molly inquired.

"Well, we ran into Jason and his dad. We brought them back with us because we needed everyone's opinion and hopefully some advice."

Molly interuppted and glanced around, " Jamie introduced us to Jason but where is his father?"

Fred and Ginny looked at each other with wide eyes and Fred quickly made his way back to the closet. After what sounded like quite a struggle, Fred backed out while pointing his wand at Harrison's body that was levitating three feet above the ground and following him.

Molly and Arthur stared in shock at the body following Fred. Arthur was the first to find his voice, "Is that who I think it is?"

"We're not sure but I think so. If its not then something is definetly going on," Fred answered.

Ginny spoke up, "We brought him here hoping we could figure out what is going on."

Harrison groaned suddenly, making everyone else jump. Molly went into mothering mode and bent down next to him. She put hand on his forehead and tenderly brushed back his hair. Everyone's eyes focused on the prominent scar. Molly quietly said, "It's him. I just know in my heart it is." Her husband bent down next to her and gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. She laid her head on his shoulder and smiled tearfully.  
Ginny pulled Jamie over and gave her a hug. Jason looked up at Fred and said, "Would someone please tell me what's going on?"

Once again Jason did not get a question answered, this time because his father woke up. He struggled to sit up and Arthur reached to help him. Once he was seated, Jason hurried to his side, "Dad are you okay?"

He pulled Jason into a hug, "Yeah, I think. What happened? Where are we?" He looked around perplexed. His gaze came to Fred. "You! What did you do to me?" 

He stood up and started to lunge at Fred. Fred was saved when Harrison saw Ginny. Their eyes locked and Harrison whispered, "It's you." He slowly walked towards her. Once he was in front of her, he told her, "I'm sorry but for as long as I can remember, I've dreamed of you. I know that sounds like a bad pick up line but it's the truth."

Fred suddenly became atypically sensitive and began herding everyone down the hallway by saying, "So, mum where's everyone else? Let's go, I feel a need to check on ickle Ronnikins." He put his arm around his mother's shoulders and gently but firmly directed her out the area.

Arthur took the hint and put an arm around each of the kids. "Come on, lets go let everyone else know you're here, Jamie and introduce you to everyone, Jason."

Jamie reluctantly let her grandfather lead her to Uncle Ron's room. She kept glancing over her shoulder at her mum and Jason's dad. She thought to herself, is that really be my dad?

Harrison vaguely heard everyone else leave the area. He was unable to look away from the woman standing in front of him. After all the years of dreaming about her, he could not believe that she was actually real. Not only was she real but she was here, smiling sweetly at him through her tears.

Ginny reached out and took both his hands in her's. She spoke to him for the first time, "Oh Harry, I always knew you would come back to us. I've never given up hope." As she finished saying this, she wrapped her arms around him.

He held her close and sighed. The top of her head fit perfectly under his chin. It felt so right to him to hold this petite redheaded woman. They stood in the hallway holding on to each other for a long time. Finally, she pulled back slightly. He silently wiped the tears from her cheeks.

She looked up into his bright green eyes and asked him, "Do you think we should find everyone else and try to figure all of this out?"

There was a single "pop" and a man with silvery white hair appeared next to Harrison. After the previous events of the day, Harrison was not overly shocked to see that it was the man from his dreams who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "I think I may be able to answer some of your questions," he addressed them both. "Hello, Ginny, are you doing okay?"  
When she assured him she was fine, the man grasped Harrison into a fatherly hug, "You don't know how wonderful it is to see you. We have all missed you so much and have thought of you often." He released Harrison and continued, "Why don't we find everyone else and explain things to everyone together. Hopefully by the time we locate them, my visitor will be here. She'll be able to explain things better than I can. I only really know the beginning." He then turned and proceeded down the hallway in the same direction everyone else had gone earlier.

Ginny and Harrison looked at each other and then followed him down the hall. The older man was waiting for them at the door. He gave Harrison a friendly smile and then opened the door. Ginny grasped Harrison's hand and he was grateful for that because he was a little nervous about what he would find out on the other side of the door


	6. That Can't Be

1Jamie stood by Ron's hospital bed and listened to her Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione bicker with each other. She was not entirely sure what they were arguing about. It seemed to have something to do with Ron wanting to go home and Hermione wanting him to stay at the hospital a little longer. Whatever it was, though, it kept them from noticing that Arthur, Molly, Fred, and George were having a whispered conversation on the other side of the room. From the look on George's face, Jamie assumed they were telling him about Jason's dad. The group soon made their way over to the bed and joined Jason and Jamie in watching Ron and Hermione. 

Hermione finally noticed that they had an audience and looked up. She smiled sheepishly at everyone, "Hi, we were just discussing something."

Ron snorted and earned himself a glare from his wife. He looked at Fred and smirked, "So, I happened to pick up a copy of Witches Weekly and imagine my surprise at the cover." Fred abruptly reached for the magazine in Ron's hand. His twin, however, was quicker.

"Accio magazine," George quickly uttered. The magazine flew to his hand, much to Jason's shock. "Well, what have we here? I do have to say the gentleman on the cover is quite handsome," he stated. Fred's face, which was identical to his with the exception of the scar on his own cheek, smiled and winked from the cover. He continued to read the magazine cover as Fred blushed, "Most Eligible Wizard, hey, maybe you won't be the famous last Weasley bachelor for much longer." He nudged his twin in the ribs and grinned at him.

"Aw, shut up," Fred muttered. "And give me that," he snatched the magazine from George before he could open it and find the article, "I only agreed to do it because they promised to give us free advertising for the store."

"Don't worry, George, I made sure to get several copies. I'll give you one later," Ron reassured George.

George grinned and told Ron, "Thanks, mate. I'll owe you one."

Fred snarled at his brothers and plopped into the chair next to the one Hermione was sitting in.

Hermione decided to save Fred from the teasing of his brothers and asked Jamie, "Where's your mum, Jae?"

Jamie looked to her grandparents and uncles for help in answering the question. She was not sure what to tell her aunt. Molly answered the question for her granddaughter, "Ginny's talking to Jason's father. They will join us in a moment, I'm sure."

Hermione perked up at the answer. Jamie knew that her aunt had been trying to get Ginny to start dating again. But Ginny always had an excuse not to. She used her work and her daughter as excuses but everyone knew the real reason was that she had never fully believed Harry was not coming back. Jamie thought to herself that now it looked like her mum may have been right not to give up hope.  
Molly continued, "Actually there is something we need to tell you before they do join us."

"Is something wrong, mum?" Ron asked his mother with a worried look on his face. 

Arthur stepped forward to try and explain everything they knew. He took a deep breath and told them, "Ron, Hermione, I'm not sure how to tell you this because I don't really understand it myself but Jason's dad appears to be someone we know."

Hermione looked at her father-in-law and asked, "What do you mean by appears to be someone we know? I mean wouldn't he either be someone we know or not?"

"Well, dear, we thought we would never see this person again."

Hermione suddenly gasped and stared at Jason. She then looked back at Arthur and exclaimed, "It can't be, can it? Oh, this is amazing. But how?" She jumped up and threw her arms around her husband and sobbed happy tears on his shoulder.

Ron looked at everyone else over the top of her head. "What is she talking about? Who is it?" He looked perplexed as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Ron, don't be stupid. Look at Jason and think about who he reminds you of. Even I figured this one out," George told his younger brother.

It took a moment but everyone, even Jason, laughed at the look on Ron's face when he finally did figure it out. "But, that's not possible. I mean that just can't be. Whoa, oh man. Bloody hell!" he stammered. 

"That's just what I said," Fred exclaimed. "But I saw him with my own two eyes and trust me, it's got to be him. And he recognized Ginny."

"We don't have any idea how it's possible but it certainly seems to be real," Arthur continued. "All I know is that there are a lot of questions to be answered and I'm not sure who to ask for the answers."

"Perhaps I can answer some of your questions," a raven-haired woman said from near the doorway.

"Aunt Lori!" Jason hollered and ran to hug the woman.

The woman smiled warmly at Jason and hugged him back. "Hey, kid. It's so good to see you. I've missed you," she told him as she ruffled his already messy hair.

Jason grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room. He dragged her over to Jamie and said, "Aunt Lori, this is my new friend Jamie."  
"Its very nice to meet you, Jamie," she shook Jamie's hand and then addressed the adults in the room, "You must be the Weasleys"

"You know them, Aunt Lori," Jason inquired.

"I know of them," she replied.

Arthur stepped towards her and spoke, "Yes, we are, or at least we are some of the Weasleys. I'm---," before he could finish she interrupted him.

"Wait, let me guess. You, sir, must be Arthur," she grasped his hand and continued, "it is quite an honor to meet you." She looked to his wife standing next to him, "And are you Molly? You are my mother's idol, there are five of us and she always said that you must be a great woman to have raised seven kids and for them all to turn out so wonderful." 

Molly blushed, "Thank you, dear. That is such a nice thing to say."

Jason looked at her with a very confused look. She quickly and quietly told him she would explain later.

Lori then looked towards the bed and addressed Ron, "I know that you are the famous Cannon keeper, Ron "the King" Weasley. My family and I are all huge Quidditch fans. My oldest brother is a beater for the Boston Bolts. I think your team played his last year in an exhibition match."

"He wouldn't be Ryan Montgomery, would he?" Ron asked her. At her nod, he continued, "He took out our best chaser two minutes into the game."

"That sounds like Ryan. Believe it or not he is a very nice guy. He just gets a little vicious when he has a beater's bat in his hand." She giggled at the look on Ron's face.

She looked to the woman sitting next to Ron's bed, "You have got to be Hermione. I've heard wonderful things about your primary school. I would love to visit it while I'm here if that's possible. A friend of mine is trying to start one in the States and she'll kill me if I come home without checking it out."

Hermione beamed with pride, "Of course, I would love to show you the school. And if your friend needs any help getting started, I would be more than happy to help in anyway I can."

Lori then turned to the last two in the room, "You two must be the Weasley twins of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. But you'll need to help me with out with which of you is Fred and which is George."

Fred quickly jumped up to make the introductions but tripped over his own feet. Arthur caught him before he fell on his face. He blushed up to the tips of his ears. When he finally regained his balance, he looked at Lori, "I'm Fred and this is my George, twin. I mean this is my twin, George." He was now blushing so hard, his face took on a purplish hue.

Lori giggled again at one of the Wesley brothers. She gave Fred a hug, which caused him to turn even harder. "You are absolutely adorable!"

George rose and stood next to his twin, "That's what I always say about him." He reached over to pinch Fred's cheeks.

Fred slapped his brother's hands away and grumbled, "Cut it out!"

George laughed and then faced Lori, "It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. That would be a nice thing to tell you. It's Loraine Montgomery, but please call me Lori."

"What? Your name is Lori Palmer. What are you talking about Aunt Lori?"

She started to answer Jason but was interrupted when the door opened and man with a long white beard entered the room. "Lori, it's wonderful to see you dear. How is your family? Did you have a good trip?"

Once again she was interrupted before she could answer. This time by a loud crash.


	7. It Really Is You

1"Ron!" Hermione and Molly both hollered as they quickly bent down to help him up after he fell off of the bed. When Ron fell he had knocked over the vase of flowers that was sitting on the bedside table. Both women slipped on the water and joined Ron on the floor. Every time one of them would try to stand, they would slip again. Finally, Arthur had the sense to perform a drying spell to get rid of the water.

Ron mumbled apologies to his wife and mother once all three were back on their feet. "I was just shocked to see Harry," he explained. He looked at the group that had just entered the room, "Hi, Ginny. Hello, Professor Dumbledore. Uh, hi. Harry?"

Hermione looked to the pair standing behind Dumbledore. "Harry! It really is you," she cried and ran to wrap him in a hug.

He looked slightly shocked to find this woman in his arms and awkwardly patted her on the back. George and Ron soon joined them. Ron gently pried Hermione off of Harry. George shook Harry's hand heartily, "So it really is you! It's great to see you, mate."

Hermione slipped out of Ron's arms. She went to Ginny and hugged her. Ron stood awkwardly in front of Harry for a moment before grasping him in a manly, backslapping hug. When Ron stepped back, Harry looked at him and realized he was the man from the brick house with all the kids. He started to tell him that he had seen him the previous day but saw Lori first and did a double take.

"Lori, what are you doing here?" he questioned her.

"Hi, Harrison, I thought this might happen if you came to England. There are just too many Weasleys for you not to run into a least one of them." She laughed softly and smiled at Harry. "Maybe you should sit down and we'll try to explain everything to you."

Harry stepped further into the room and glanced around for a place to sit. Dumbledore noticed there were not enough seats for everyone and quickly conjured up chairs for everyone who was in need of a place to sit. Jamie laughed at the looks on Harry and Jason's faces.

"I guess I should start since I was there for the beginning of this story," Dumbledore said. Everyone waited for him to begin. "After the final battle, Harry came to me quite distraught. He had been through more than anyone should ever have to endure. He had just defeated the most evil wizard of our time but instead of celebrating his victory, he was fearful for his loved ones," he looked around at the people gathered around him. "There were still countless Death Eaters on the loose. Most of who wanted nothing more than to hurt or kill Harry and would do anything to get to him. Including hurt his family. Harry and I had previously discussed a drastic option that could provide protection for him and his loved ones. However, in order to receive this protection he would have to give up everything. His family, friends, memories, powers, everything."

Harry interrupted, "Wait, that doesn't make any sense. I mean I have lots of memories from before ten years ago."  
Dumbledore explained, "When you decided to utilize this option you were given new memories and set up with an entirely new life."

"Okay, but how do you explain Lori? I remember growing up together."

"Maybe I should explain," Lori spoke up. "You see, Harrison, or I guess I should say Harry, I'm not actually your sister. I work for the American Department of Magic in the Wizard Protection Agency. Your case was unique and I was assigned to ensure your safety. The best way to do that was for me to be able to get close to you and the easiest way to do that was for you to be given memories of a sister and for me to be that sister," she looked directly in his eyes. "I'm so sorry I could not be entirely honest with you but you have to understand that it was all done to protect you and your loved ones. And I really do love you and Jason, just like I do own family."

"So you are telling me that my entire life is not real," Harry said in a hollow voice.

"The last ten years are real. Jason is very real," Lori voiced.

"Jason, come here," Harry quietly said. Jason walked to his father's side. Harry stood up and embraced his son. He looked over Jason's head and addressed the rest of the room, "This is a lot to take in." He sat back down and stared at Dumbledore, "Is there anyway to get those memories back?"

"Yes, they are stored in a secure location at the ministry. However, as I'm sure everyone will agree, I do not think it would be wise for you to regain them all at once. There are some very difficult memories in there. But I also feel that eventually you will have to deal with all of them."

"Lori, do you think that the dream I've been having could actually be a memory. I mean they," he indicated both Ginny and Dumbledore, "are both in the dream." She nodded and he continued, "And you, sir, mentioned something about powers," he addressed Dumbledore. "What did you mean by that?"

"Well, as you and Jason have probably already figured out, we are blessed with magical ability. When you left, your powers were bound but that can be reversed. Now, I understand that Jason has not begun to show powers yet. I know he is magical, his name showed up in the Hogwart's book at his birth," at Harry's confused look, he explained, "His powers would have been detected. As Lori stated earlier, your case was special and was monitored very closely."

"What makes my situation so special?" he asked.

"Harry you saved the world from a horrible fate at the hands of a very dark wizard. In our world you are very famous, quite possibly the most famous wizard there has ever been. Everyone knows your name," Dumbledore answered.

"Cool!" Jason exclaimed, looking at his dad with awe.  
Dumbledore stood up, "I imagine this is a lot to deal with, I think I should give you a little time and I will be in contact with you shortly to discuss regaining your memories." He walked over to where Harry was sitting and embraced Harry once again.

Lori got up and joined Dumbledore. She gave Jason and Harry both warm hugs. She then explained that Dumbledore was an old family friend and that he had offered to let her stay at Hogwarts during her visit. After telling everyone else goodbye and promising to see them all soon, they disapparated with twin 'pops'.

Once Dumbledore and Lori had left, George announced that he too had to be leaving. He approached Harry to give him a brotherly hug, "It is amazing to see you again. I would love to visit a little longer but my wife Katie is home alone with our three kids along with Ron and Hermione's five. Since this includes two sets of Wesley twins, she has her hands full and I should go rescue her. She'll be so happy to hear you are back. You were friends with her back at school."

George said good bye to everyone else and he too disapparated. Fred came over to Harry once his brother was gone, "Harry it really is great to see. We have a lot of catching up to do. Oh, and I'm sorry about stunning you earlier. You took me by surprise."

Before he left, he told Jason, "It was nice to meet you, next time I see you remind me to give you some merchandise from our store." This caused most of the adults to groan and Ron and Jamie to smile broadly.

Shortly after Fred left, Arthur and Molly also headed home. Molly made Harry promise to send Jason over to play with her grandchildren later in the week. Jason was the same age as George's twin boys and Ron's twin girls and there were numerous other Wesley children within a year or two of his age. Harry was pleased to find this out, he had always felt bad that Jason had no siblings.

The appearance of Harry had caused Hermione to forget about her attempt to get Ron to stay at the hospital and they too soon left. But only after getting Ginny and Harry to promise to have dinner at their home that evening. They both hugged everyone and left to collect their children from George and Katie's house.

When only Harry, Ginny, Jamie, and Jason remained in the room, Jamie looked at her dad shyly. She had not seen him since she was a year old and was not sure how to react to him being there. Ginny apparently sensed that Jamie needed to be alone with her father and asked Jason to escort her to the tea shop to get something to drink. Once they left, Harry came over and sat on the bed next to Jamie.

"So, I guess this is just about as confusing for you as it is for me," he said to her. 

She swung her feet back and forth. "Yea, it's a little weird but I'm really glad you're here," she glanced up at him. When she saw he was smiling down at her, she too broke into a smile. He pulled her over and hugged her gently.

"I think weird is a good way to describe it," he replied to her statement.

"So you don't remember anything?" she inquired.

"Not really. I've seen you as a baby with your mum in a dream," he answered. He went on to explain, "But I have a sense of belonging here with all of you. It really feels like I've come home. Does that make any sense to you because it doesn't entirely to me?"

"Yeah, I think I understand."

Just then Ginny and Jason returned. Ginny smiled at them both and a very excited Jason ran to his dad, "Dad, you won't believe some of the stuff I saw. There was a man who had grown a tail, just like a dog! And another guy with nose hair all the way to the floor. Oh, and I heard this lady say there was a werewolf here!"

Harry looked to Ginny for an explanation for Jason's chatter. She laughed and told him, "The tail and nose hair were results of a family feud and some overenthusiastic hexing. But it really wasn't too bad. Trust me, Fred and George have done much worse. And the werewolf mentioned is a very close family friend. In fact, Harry, he was one of your dad's best friends and was a teacher for a while when we were in school."

Jason's eyes kept getting bigger and bigger. He finally looked at his dad and exclaimed, "Dad, can we stay here? This is the coolest place ever!" 

Everyone laughed at Jason's enthusiasm.

"Well, instead of staying at the hospital why don't we go back to our house. We have a little time before we are supposed to go to Ron and Hermione's," Ginny suggested. "And next week, Jason, maybe you can come to Diagon Alley with us to do Jamie's school shopping. If you think the hospital is 'cool', just wait till you visit Diagon Alley. That is if it is okay with your dad."

"Can I, dad? Please!" Jason pleaded.

"Sure," Harry gave his permission and caused Jason to do a victory dance.

Once Jason calmed down, Ginny asked, "Is everyone ready to go?"

The group headed out the door and down to a large fireplace at the end of the hall. On the way, Harry got several curious stares. By the time they reached the end of the hallway, he was feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Alright, Jamie why don't you go first, then Harry. Jason you can follow your dad and I'll bring up the rear," Ginny instructed as she reached for the container of complimentary Floo Powder.

"Hold on, what are you talking about? Are you saying that we are going to go home through a fireplace?" Harry inquired in a disbelieving voice.

"Yes, Jamie will demonstrate how it's done. Just keep your elbows in and speak clearly."

"And you might want to close your eyes, so you don't get nauseous," Jamie suggested before she reached for a handful of Floo Powder. She threw it into the flames, which then burned a bright green. Then much to Jason and Harry's shock she stepped into the flames and was gone in a flash of green light.


	8. Can I Ask You Something

Jamie was grateful that she was the first one to come through the fireplace. That meant no one saw her very ungraceful landing onto the living room floor. She got up just in time to avoid having Harry collide with her.

He looked a little green so Jamie helped him up. The two of them settled on the sofa next to each other. Before they had a chance to speak to one another, Jason fell onto the floor.

"That was awesome. I want to do it again!" he exclaimed.

Harry and Jamie both looked at him like he was crazy. He hopped up and went to examine the pictures on the mantle. Soon after Jason moved, Ginny arrived and was the only one who managed a somewhat graceful landing.

As soon as she sat down next to Jamie, a soft tapping was heard on the windowpane. Ginny pushed the sheer curtains aside to open the window. A large barn owl flew in and landed in front of Harry. The owl patiently held its leg out for Harry to take the letter attached. He looked at Ginny with a confused look.

"Go ahead, take the letter. It must be for you or he wouldn't have landed in front of you," she told him.

He took the letter and read aloud:

_Harry,_

_I just learned of your miraculous return. I could not be happier to  
hear the news and look forward to catching up with you and meeting your son. Please join Professor Dumbledore and myself tomorrow at my office at 9:00 to discuss beginning the process of regaining your memories. Have Ginny bring you to my office, she knows where it is._

_Sincerely,_

_Bill Weasley  
Minister of Magic_

When he reached the end, he looked up, "Weasley? Is that a another relative of yours?"

"Yes, Bill's my oldest brother," Ginny answered him.

"How many Weasleys are there?"

"Well, lets see. I have five brothers and all but Fred are married. So that's nine. Um, Ron and Hermione have five kids, George and Katie have three, Bill and Fleur have two, and Charlie and Amy have two. So, that's how many kids? Twelve?" She counted them up on her fingers. "Yeah twelve. That makes twenty-one. Add Jamie and I to make twenty-three. Mum and dad make twenty-five."

"Twenty-five! That's a huge family. Jase and I are used to it just being Lori and us."

"Yeah, there are a lot of us. It can get a little crazy at times but I wouldn't trade them for the world."

There was a knock on the door and the kids ran to see who it was. When they opened the door, they found Jason and Harry's luggage. Jamie pulled the note off of the top.

Thought these might come in handy. I assume Harry and Jason will be staying here. If not, rooms will be available at the Leaky Cauldron.

Jason grabbed his bag and ran back to the living room, yelling, "Dad, our luggage is here!" Jamie followed dragging Harry's bag behind her.

"What? How did our luggage get here?" Harry asked confused.

Ginny smiled, "I bet it was Dumbledore. He has his ways of getting things done." She glanced at her wristwatch, "We should probably get ready to head over to Ron's."

She showed Harry and Jason to the spare bedroom where they could stay. Harry put his bag down on one of the twin beds in the room. The room, he noted to himself, was very warm and inviting. Both beds were covered dark blue quilts and lace curtains hung at the window. Jason changed into fresh clothes quickly and ran out of the room, he was fascinated by the moving photographs and wanted to check them out some more.

Harry stepped across the hall to the small bathroom. He shut the door behind him and splashed cold water on his face. For several minutes, he stood and stared at his reflection in the mirror. I look the same as always, he thought to himself. The same bright green eyes, the same hair that despite his best efforts was impossible to tame. But how could he still look the same when so much had happened in one day.

In one day, he had discovered a whole life that he had no memory of. The only reason he did not just leave and take Jason and go home was because something kept telling him he was home. It made no sense to him at all but he knew he could not leave here. He had to stay at least long enough to get some answers.

His thoughts drifted to Ginny. After so many dreams, he had finally found the red headed woman and the little girl. Although she was not a little girl any longer, she was a young woman. Could she really be his daughter? There was no denying that she had eyes identical to his and Jason's. But lots of people had green eyes, right?

Thinking of Jason made him think of Meg. He had seen a wedding photo on the mantle and it was him and Ginny in the picture. If he was really married to Ginny, then what did that mean to the relationship he had had with Jason's mother? Was it possible to love two women? Although at that thought, the voice in the back of his head asked him if he had really, truly loved Meg. He had definitely cared about her and enjoyed her company, but he had always wondered if they would have gotten married if she had not gotten pregnant with Jason. He had convinced himself that he loved her but he always felt like something was missing.

There were too many thoughts running through his head. He splashed his face once more. With one final glance in the mirror and a deep breathe, he made his way back to the living room to join everyone else.

He ran into Jamie in the hallway. "So, do we have go through the fireplace to get to their house?" he asked in what he hoped was a causal voice.

She laughed and he thought about how much she looked like her mother when she did, "No, they live really close to us. We can just walk. I don't really like going anywhere by Floo either."

They found Jason talking excitedly about his football team to Ginny. Jamie had heard about the Muggle game of football from Georgia, who sometimes watched games with her grandpa on her mum's side. Hermione was muggle born, so Georgia and her siblings knew lots about Muggle life from visiting their grandparents. She wondered what Jason would think about Quiditch.

Once Harry and Jamie joined them, Ginny placed a hand on Harry's arm and asked,"Are you okay? Are you sure you don't mind going?" She looked at him with concern and care in her eyes.

He replied with a grateful smile, "Yes, I'm fine. For some reason I feel that if you are with me it will be okay."

They all said they were and the group made the short walk to Ron and Hermione's house. Harry was grateful for Jason's chatter during the walk, because of it no one noticed how preoccupied he was. He still had a jumble of thoughts racing through his head and did not know what to think about any of it.

When they arrived at Ron and Hermione's house, Harry once again felt as though this was where he belonged. Several children were playing in the yard. Jamie and Jason soon ran off to join them.

Ginny and Harry entered the house and went in search of Ron and Hermione. Voices could be heard coming from the rear of the house. They followed the voices to the kitchen.

"Ronald, you cannot just ask something like that. He'll tell us when he's ready."

"But what if she is still around and just shows up. Don't you think we need to know that."

"Ron, don't be stupid and here, put this on the table."  
"What are you two arguing about now?" Ginny asked teasingly from the doorway.

"Ginny, Harry, hi. Come in. Dinner will be done in just a minute." Hermione told them.

Ron went over to Harry and quietly said, "This is our chance to escape. Follow my lead." He looked over at his wife and sister, "I'm going to show Harry around and introduce him to the kids."

Harry was quickly pulled across the room. Ron ushered him out the door that led to the backyard. Once they were outdoors, Ron spoke, "If we didn't leave when we had the chance, she would just keep finding things for us to do. Or rather, things for me to do."

Suddenly, Harry caught sight of the kids and gasped. They were flying on broomsticks! He scanned the area for Jason and felt his heart leap into his throat when he located him high above the yard.

Ron laughed, "Don't worry, I put a catching charm on the yard. If any of them fall off, they won't hit the ground. Hermione wouldn't let the kids fly unless I could ensure their safety."

Harry shook his head slightly, "Is it normal for them to be flying on broomsticks?"

"Absolutely, sometimes it's impossible to get the twins down. I can't say much though. We were the same way when we were younger. Actually, I guess to be honest, I'm still that way," he chuckled.

In response, Harry simply nodded his head and smiled. He realized once again how much he had to learn or rather remember.

Ron looked at Harry like he wanted to say something. After peeking in the window to make sure Hermione and Ginny were busy, he spoke quietly, "Harry, can I ask you something and you promise not to tell Hermione that I did?"

"Sure, what do you want to know?"

"Um, well, what I was wondering about, is Jason. Or more specifically Jason's mum. I mean, who is she? And where is she?"

The door opened behind them and Ginny called them in for dinner before Harry could answer.

A/N As a thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, I am going to post two chapters today : ) I promise the mystery as to who Jason's mom is will be answered soon! I promise! Thanks again for the reviews.


	9. I Remember

As Harry made his way home with Ginny and the kids, he smiled to himself. He had had a wonderful time with Ron and Hermione. The dinner had been delicious and after eating, the kids had run back out to play. Harry had still been a bit weary about Jason on a broomstick but the rest of the adults appeared to be okay with it so he did not say anything.

When it was only the adults around the table, Hermione quickly cleared it with a flick of her wand. Harry thought that could come in handy. The adults had reminisced about their school days for the second evening in a row. Harry was intrigued by their stories and was very excited to regain his memories. During the evening, it had become clear to him why he had been such good friends with Ron and Hermione. He smiled again as he wondered if they had always argued so much. Despite the bickering though, it was clear that they were very much in love with each other.

After the events of the day, Jason was exhausted and Harry had to carry him home. When they reached the house, Harry carried Jason to the guestroom and laid him on one of the beds and covered him with a blanket. He sat on the other bed and kicked his shoes off. He had only meant to sit down for a moment to clear his head but the bed was so comfortable that he laid down.

"Harry? Harry? Wake up," Ginny called from the doorway. He slowly opened his eyes and was shocked to see that it was morning.

He jumped out of bed, "What time is it? I'm supposed to meet with Mr. Dumbledore and your brother this morning." He began quickly pulling clothes out of his suitcase.

"Harry, it's okay," Ginny giggled. "It's only eight. You have plenty of time. I put some towels and things in the bathroom for you."

"Oh, thanks," Harry told her. He made his way to the bathroom to get ready for his meeting while she headed down to the hall towards the kitchen.

Once he was ready, he went to join everyone else in the kitchen. He was surprised to find only Ginny sitting at the table with a steaming cup of tea reading the morning paper. "Where are the kids?" he asked.

"They're out back with Ron and his kids," she answered. "My parents invited Jason over for the day, if that's okay with you. Jamie and her cousins will be there. He can go with them. And then you won't have to worry about him while you are meeting with Bill and Professor Dumbledore."

"Are you sure they won't mind?"

"There will be so many kids there they won't notice one more," she reassured him.

"Okay, tell them thanks for me. I'm sure he will have a better time there."

"Sure," she told him.

He went to tell Jason good bye. After Jason promised to behave himself and listen to Molly and Arthur, Harry embarrassed him by hugging him. Harry laughed at him and waved to Ron. Then he made his way back to the living room where Ginny was waiting for him.

She reached for the container of Floo powder and his heart dropped. He really did not like to travel this way but did not want to say anything. "Do you want me to come with you?" she inquired.

"If you don't mind, I would love for you to come," he smiled at her.

She smiled back at him and held the container out to him. "I'll be right behind you."

He reached for a pinch of powder and with a small sigh, he threw it into the flames. After clearly stating his destination, he stepped into the flames. The world began to spin and soon Harry was stumbling out of Bill's fireplace with Ginny right behind him.

Bill rushed forward to prevent Harry from crashing headfirst into his desk. Once Harry regained his balance, he gave Bill a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Thanks," he told him. "I guess I need to work on my landings."

Bill chuckled, "No problem." He then greeted Harry fondly with a strong handshake, "It is so great to see you again, Harry. We've really missed you." He indicated the sitting area on the other side of the office where Ginny had joined Dumbledore. "Come on over and have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?"

"No, thanks, I'm fine." He sat down on the leather sofa next to Ginny and greeted Dumbledore who was seated in a matching chair across from her. "Hello, sir. It's good to see you again."

Bill joined them and handed Dumbledore a cup of tea. He sat down in the remaining chair with his own cup. "If everyone is settled, why don't we get started. I imagine Harry is eager to begin. Professor Dumbledore, I'll let you run things."

"Thank you, Bill and please call me Albus, like I have told you many times, it has been a long time since I was your professor," he laughed at the other man. Then facing Harry, he began, "As I indicated yesterday, I do not feel that it would be wise to give you all of your memories at once. As you will soon learn many will be difficult to deal with. But before you get too worried, there are many light-hearted and loving ones as well. I feel that we should reintroduce you to your memories by alternating each type. That way," he explained, "you will understand why you loved your friends and family so much you were willing to give up everything to ensure their safety and you will remember the circumstances that drove you to such a drastic decision."

Harry spoke up, "Okay, do you think we can begin soon, I would really like to get started."

"Absolutley, the memories are stored here at the ministry, but I feel we would be more comfortable working in my office at Hogwarts. The school term does not start for over a month so we will have plenty of time before the students return. I think you will be surprised at how quickly the process will be completed. Since memories are tied to one another, when you regain one it will have several attached to it that you will also remember."

Dumbledore then looked to Ginny, "I think Harry will need to do this on his own and he can share with you what he remembers. That way he will be able to decide on his own what to share. We will work for most of the daytime hours but Harry can spend his evenings with you and your family. After all, he will have to be told about the past ten years."

She answered him, "Whatever you think is best for Harry is okay with me." She smiled warmly at Harry after she said this.

Dumbledore rose, "Well, Harry are you ready? We can go to Hogwarts now and get started." He glanced at Bill, "Will you have the information sent to me?"

"Of course, it will be there when you arrive," he stated. Then he addressed Ginny, "So sis, would you care to join me for some breakfast?"

She agreed and after giving Harry a quick hug and telling him good luck, the two of them left to go eat.

Dumbledore held out a Chocolate Frog wrapper to Harry, "Just hold on to a part of this and we will be on our way."

Harry looked at him with confusion but did as he was told. Instantly when he touched the wrapper, he felt a tugging behind his navel and the room began to spin. In a few seconds, he found himself on his back in the middle of Dumbledore's office. He stood up and gazed at the many pictures hanging on the walls and at the trinkets scattered throughout the room.

He jumped when one of the portraits spoke, "Harry Potter! What are you doing here? I thought you were dead!"

Dumbledore spoke from behind Harry, "Have a seat Harry and try to ignore them." He gave the portraits a stern look and sat down behind his desk. "Oh, good. Bill was right, your memories are already here," he said when he saw a container filled with a silvery substance sitting on the top of his desk.

He looked at Harry with an excited look in his twinkling blue eyes, "Let's start with some pleasant memories today. We can move on to the darker ones later."

Harry took a deep breath, his heart was racing with excitement. He wiped his palms on his pants and uttered, "I'm ready."  
The two of them spent the entire day restoring Harry's memories. They took a quick break for lunch, which was delivered by a very excited house elf by the name of Dobby. He had nearly bowled Harry over in his excitement to see him. Harry had laughed at his enthusiasm.

When the sun was beginning to set, Dumbledore said, "I think that is enough excitement for one day. I imagine you are anxious to see your loved ones now that you have some memory of them. Why don't you come back here tomorrow morning? We can work some more and I know there are several staff members here who would love to see you."

Harry spoke excitedly, "Thank you so much, sir. You're right I am anxious to see them. I will meet you back here tomorrow."

Dumbledore picked up a coin from his desk, "Here this will take you to Ron and Hermione's. Ginny is waiting for you there."

Harry reached out for the coin and once again felt the tug behind his navel. He landed on his backside once more, this time on Ron's living room floor. It sounded as though everyone was in the kitchen so he jumped up and ran to the other room. There he found Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and all of the kids. He grabbed Ginny and spun her in circles while he laughed heartily.

"Wow, what was that for?" she asked as she smiled at him and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"That is because I remember all of you. I remember Hagrid coming to get me and bringing me to Hogwarts. I remember meeting Ron and Hermione on the train. I remember seeing you at your parents house, Ginny. I remember the first time I flew on a broomstick and having a Firebolt. I remember so many fun times," he finally took a breathe. He plopped down into one of the kitchen chairs and grinned at everyone who was laughing at him.

Suddenly, he looked at Ron, "Hey, do you have a broomstick I can use? I want to fly!"

Ron chuckled, "I can do better than just letting you borrow a broom. Stay here, I'll be right back." He ran out of the room and they heard him race up the stairs. In a few moments he returned with something held behind his back. "I kept this for years now and I think it is time to return it to you."

Harry whooped with joy when Ron held out his Firebolt to him. The two men ran outdoors with Ron grabbing his own broom on the way. Soon, they were flying through the air like they were eleven years old again.

After several hours, Harry and Ginny along with Jamie and Jason returned home. Harry said that he was going to bed because he wanted to get to Dumbledore's office early the next day to get started again. He gave everyone huge hugs before heading down the hall whistling.

The next day Harry returned to Hogwarts. He was greeted by several members of the Hogwarts staff including Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout even Filch greeted him. Hagrid was there and cried giant tears and nearly cracked one of Harry's ribs with his embrace. Once everyone had said his or her hellos, Dumbledore led Harry back to his office.

"Well Harry, you seem to be in a good mood,"Dumbledore said with a grin.

"Yes, sir, I am. It is so wonderful to remember everyone. I'm finding it hard to understand why I would have left. Really the only bad memory I've had so far was my mum and dad dying. And that happened when I was a baby so I don't see why that would make me decide to leave."

Dumbledore looked at Harry with a sadness in his eyes, "Unfortunately, we will get to that soon. But today maybe we should work with some events that led up to your decision." He looked into the container on his desk, "Oh, this one will be good to start with. It will lead to many others."

At first Harry did not understand why Dumbledore choose this memory, although he was enjoying the memory. He was with the Weasleys and they were at the Quidditch World Cup. Harry watched his younger self walk through the crowd with Ron, he heard himself ask where all the wizards had come from. Ron explained there were witches and wizards all over the world. They walked by a group of witches standing under a banner that read "Salem Academy".

The younger Harry and Ron continued on, but Harry stopped abruptly when he saw two of the young witches. This is not possible, he thought to himself. He was looking at Lori and Meg, Jason's mother!


	10. I Don't Understand

Dumbledore spoke and pulled Harry from his memory, "Harry, are you okay? I know that is somewhat of a shock."

Harry looked imploringly at Dumbledore. "Was that really Meg? I don't understand."

"Yes, but I think Lori will be better able to explain." He looked at Harry with worry filling his usually twinkling blue eyes. "Do you want to stop now and go speak to her?"

"No, I want to continue," he said with determination. "I'll find her when we are done." Harry felt anger begin to well up inside of him. How could Lori and Meg have both kept something so important from him? What else had been kept from him?

"If you are sure," Dumbledore told him. He looked for another memory and found the one he wanted.

Once again they spent the day relieving memories. Other than the memory of seeing Lori and Meg, the memory that stood out the most to him was the memory of his and Ginny's wedding. Harry had watched his younger self and Ron as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

"She's not coming. I know she's not. I mean why would she? She's going to come to her senses and stand me up," the younger Harry paced the room and ran his fingers through his messy black hair as he talked to himself.

Ron laughed at him and pushed him down onto a chair. "Harry, calm down, of course she is coming. She loves you okay? She would never have agreed to marry you if she didn't."

Harry looked up at Ron with a slightly calmer look in his eyes, "You think so? Of course you're right. I'm just so nervous and I love her so much. I don't know what I would do without her, you know."

Bill poked his head into the room, "Harry? It's time, mate."

At this statement, Harry looked at Ron with renewed panic. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Harry, it's okay. Now comb your hair so we can go. You don't want to be late for your own wedding. If nothing else, Ginny and my mum would kill you. No, they would probably find a way to make it my fault and kill me. So please hurry up."

"Right," Harry answered as he went to the mirror and smoothed his hair down. He turned to Ron, "I'm ready. Let's go."

The two men exited the room and made their way to the courtyard. They stepped out into the bright sunlight. Quickly they took their places under the arbor decorated with flowers. Joining them was Professor Dumbledore, who was to perform the ceremony, and the rest of Ginny's brothers.

Harry looked out at the crowd gathered and smiled to see so many of his friends. Mrs. Weasley was already crying and Professor McGonagall was patting her on the arm. Next to them was Bill's wife, Fleur, she was holding their small daughter, Zoe. He was a little worried because she looked like she was going to have their next child at any minute. He just hoped she waited until the ceremony was over.

A loud sniffle came from the back of the crowd. Hagrid was sitting in the back row due to the fact that no one could see over him. Today's occasion had been cause for him to bring out his awful hair suit.

As Harry was taking note of the other guests, music started to play. Several females were making their way down the aisle towards the men. There were two of Ginny's dormmates from school. Following them was, Luna Lovegood with her blond hair shimmering in the sun. Next was Tonks whose hair matched her rose colored dress. Harry's smiled at the next woman and Hermione smiled softly at him. It had only been a few months ago when they had all gathered for Ron and Hermione's wedding.

When Hermione took her place, the music changed and everyone stood as the bride made her way down the aisle with her father escorting her. Harry gasped when he saw her, he had never seen a more beautiful sight. The sunlight caused her red hair to shine like firelight and her eyes sparkled as they locked with Harry's. As the pair reached the end of the aisle, Harry stepped forward to shake Mr. Weasely's hand. He then took Ginny's hand and whispered, "I love you. You look so beautiful."

The ceremony was romantic and emotional. When the time came to exchange vows, Harry's stomach became full of butterflies. Ginny went first and as expected had written eloquent vows that professed her love to Harry.

When it was Harry's turn, he was so nervous he was afraid he might get physically sick. This wasn't exactly Harry's area of expertise. He looked deep into Ginny's warm brown eyes and began, "You are my everything. You are my dreams and my reality. You are my yesterday and my tomorrow." His voice cracked with emotion before he continued, "You are my light and without you my world is dark and cold. You are my friend and my first and only love. You, Ginny, are my world. I love you."

There was not a dry eye in the crowd when he finished. Harry wiped his own tears and then wiped Ginny's tears away with his thumb.

Dumbledore gently pulled Harry from his memory. He suggested that they continue tomorrow. Harry was grateful because he did not know if he could handle much more today.

Harry was exhausted as he prepared to leave Dumbledore's office. He wanted nothing more than to lay down somewhere and sleep but he still needed to find Lori and ask her about Meg. But first he wanted to find Ginny; he needed to tell her how much he loved her.

The thought of Ginny perked him up. Dumbledore once again created a portkey for Harry to return home. He was much more subdued when he arrived home today than he had been the previous day. However, Ginny entered the room and he felt his heart swell with love for her.

He got up and pulled her into his arms. She smiled at him and greeted him, "Hi, how did it go today?"

"Interesting, I found out a lot. And I remembered just how much I love you," he bent down to kiss her. When their lips were a breath apart, a door slamming shut was heard.

"Dad! Ginny! Are you guys in here?", Jason hollered.

"Mum! Where are you," Jamie yelled.

Harry groaned and pulled back from Ginny. "We're in here, guys."

"Hi, grandma wanted us to invite you to dinner. Everyone is going to come." Jamie told them as she and Jason entered the room. She looked questioningly at her mum and Harry standing with their arms around each other. "Um, she said it'll be a welcome home dinner for you. So I guess you have to go," she informed Harry.

Harry looked a bit apprehensive. He was not sure if he was ready to face the entire Weasley family all at once. But he remembered enough to know that if Molly Weasley was determined to have a family dinner to welcome him home, there was no way he was getting out of it.

Ginny glanced at Harry. When he nodded his head to show it was okay with him, she said she would owl her mum to tell her they would be there.

"I guess I'll go get ready then," Jamie said. Both kids were slightly dirty, Jason much more so than Jamie. It appeared that they had been outdoors most of the day.

"Okay, Jason, you need to go change into clean clothes as well," Harry instructed his son.

"But dad I'll just get dirty again. So wouldn't it make more sense for me to keep the dirty ones on?"

"No, Jason, it wouldn't, now go get cleaned up."

Jason mumbled as he headed off to do what his father told him. Harry laughed silently at him and shook his head. He reminded himself that he would have to talk to Jason about everything that had happened in the past two days. Harry knew that he would like to remain here but he felt he should at least talk to Jason about it. But Jason's excitement since they had been here led Harry to believe that his son would like nothing more than to stay here.

Ginny came back into the room. "I already heard back from mum, she said everyone will be there around seven for dinner. If you want we can get there a little early so you can have time to prepare yourself before the invasion," she laughed.

He looked up at he clock and saw it was already after six. They would have to leave soon if they wanted to get there before everyone else. Suddenly he remembered he needed to talk to Lori.

"Ginny, do you know how I can get in touch with Lori, I need to discuss some things with her. I know she said she was staying at Hogwarts but I did not see her there."

"Oh, actually she will be at dinner. Apparently she ran into Fred while she was shopping in Diagon Alley and he invited her."

Jamie and Jason returned. Harry smiled at their bickering. They had only known each other for two days and they were already fighting like brothers and sisters do. He thought to himself that tomorrow he would ask Professor Dumbledore to let him have some memories of Jamie when she was a baby.

Much to Harry's dismay, he saw Ginny get down the container of Floo Powder. That meant they were going to travel by his least favorite mode of transportation. He noticed that Jamie looked like she felt the same way. It made him happy to see that they had something in common other than their green eyes.

This time, Ginny reached the container out to Jamie. She took a pinch of powder and when the green flames danced in the grate, she yelled, "The Burrow!"

Jason quickly jumped to go next. "The Burrow!" he screamed a bit louder than necessary.

Ginny turned to hold the container out to Harry. He started to take a pinch but stopped before he did. Instead he took the container from her hand and sat it on the mantle. He smiled mischievously at her and pulled her to him for the kiss that had been interrupted earlier.


	11. We Need to Talk

Harry and Ginny were both slightly flushed in the face when they stumbled out of the fireplace in the kitchen of The Burrow. Luckily, Molly was too busy finishing dinner for nearly thirty people to notice. The entire Weasley family along with several close family friends were attending Harry's welcome home dinner.Molly took a brief break when she heard them arrive and rushed over to embrace Harry, "Dear, it is still hard to believe you are really here. I am just so happy."

"Hi, mum. What can I do to help?" Ginny inquired.

Molly soon put Ginny to work along with Arthur and Jamie. Harry had offered to help but Molly had insisted that he relax since this dinner was in his honor. Jason was roaming the kitchen and investigating many of the magical items he came across. Harry was just starting to tell Jason to stop being so nosy when Ron and his family entered the room.

Jamie quickly ran off with Georgia. The twins, Josie and Jason all followed close behind. Hermione took Jamie's place in the kitchen. Molly instructed Ron to start setting up tables in the backyard and Harry joined him. Dumbleore had unbound Harry's magic the previous day and Ginny had given him his wand back so the two men levitated tables and chairs into place in the backyard. This took a little longer than it should have since the two men had a duel with their tables.

Ron's brother, Charlie greeted Harry exuberantly when he joined them a short time later.

"Harry it is great to see you," he exclaimed as he gave him a quick manly hug.

"Charlie, how are you?" Harry replied.

"Good, lots has happened since the last time I saw you. Amy and I finally got married and we have two kids. Sean is nine and Serena is seven." He pointed his kids out to Harry from the group that was flying above the ground on brooms.

Harry congratulated him. The last Harry knew Charlie and Amy had been dating off and on for several years. He was thrilled to find out they now had a happy family.

The sound of breaking glass was heard from the kitchen and soon Charlies' wife, Amy along with Tonks, sporting her trademark bright pink hair, joined them. Ashort brown haired boy who looked to be about Jason's agewas accompanying them, he looked up at Harry with shy eyes. Amy greeted Harry with a warm hug before hurrying off to break up an argumentthat had broken out between several of the Weasley cousins.

"Harry! I can't believe it. When Molly invited us for dinner and said you were back I thought she had lost her mind. How are you?" Tonks stepped forward to hug Harry and stepped painfully on his foot.

"I'm good. Is Remus with you?"

"No, he was really upset about not being able to come but he got stuck at work and with a full moon tonight and all, he's not going to be able to make it," she explained apologetically. "But he definitely wants to see you soon."

"Tell him that I would love to see him anytime." He glanced down at the child by her side. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Harry."

"Hi," he responded quietly. "I'm Michael," he politely held a hand to shake Harry's.

"Hello, Michael. It is very nice to meet you," Harry shook the offered hand.

"Why don't you go play with the other kids, sweetie?" Tonks sent him out into the backyard. Harry noticed the boy went reluctantly and looked at Tonks with confusion. She quickly explained once Michael once out of earshot, "He didn't want to leave Remus alone this evening."

"I thought you were helping in the kitchen. What are you doing out here?" Charlieasked Tonks.

"Well, I was but after I managed to break three dishes and spilt a pitcher of pumpkin juice on Matthew's head, I was kind of kicked out." The group laughed, Harry was glad to find out some things, like Tonks being a klutz, never changed.

Ron and Charlie's kids called out for their parents to come play with them. Harry noticed it did not take much effort from the kids to persuade the adults to join them.

"Harry, oh I'm so happy to see you," a delighted voice cried out. Harry turned and grinned to see Katie Bell Weasley rushing forward to hug him. Her husband was following close behind her. He was carrying a little girl and two identical boys were trailing behind him.

"Hey Katie," Harry smiled broadly at his former Quidditch teammate. "Are these your kids?"

"Yes," she released Harry and stepped back to stand by her husband. "This is Veronica," she indicated the girl in George's arms who was now struggling to get down in order to join her cousins. He placed her on her feet and she ran off on her short legs with her red curls bouncy with each step.

Katie pulled her two identical sons in front of her to introduced them to Harry, "This is Adam," she indicated the boy on her right.

"Mum, I'm Simon. He's Adam," he told her.

"Right, sorry about that dear," she apologized. "Boys, this is your Uncle Harry."

Harry reached out to shake the boys' hands. Adam pulled a piece of candy out of his pocket. "Would you like a piece of candy, Uncle Harry?" he asked while looking at Harry with innocent eyes.

Harry laughed, "Thanks, but I remember your father and uncle a little too well to accept food from a Weasley twin!"

"Right, you are Harry," George said. "Why don't you two go see if Uncle Ron would like some candy? He never learns."

"Good idea, dad!" Simon told his father. "Uncle Ron!" he and his brother both yelled as they ran off to find Ron.

Harry looked at George with a grin, "They are just like miniatures of you and Fred!"

"Tell me about it," Katie grumbled.

"Ah, you know you love us all and wouldn't change a thing about us," George said to his wife.

"I must," she replied. To show that she did indeed, she gave him a kiss. "I think I'll go see if they need any help inside."  
As she opened the back door to enter the house, Bill and his family stepped out. "Harry, how are you? How are things going with Professor Dumbledore and your memories?" Bill inquired.

"They're going very well, thank you. I'm up to my wedding so I finally remember most everyone," he smiled at Bill and Fleur. He noticed two adolescents standing behind them. "That cannot be Zoe and Chris. I mean, they were just toddlers when I saw them last!"

Everyone laughed at Harry's shocked look. "Yes, it is indeed. Zoe is getting ready to start her third year at Hogwarts and Chris will be a second year. Zoe's a Ravenclaw and Chris is a Gryffindor."

Harry noticed that Fred and Lori had arrived. He tried to make his way to her but before he made it to them, Molly called everyone to dinner. Everybody sat around the tables that Ron and Harry had set up earlier. The tables were sagging under the weight of the food. Harry was seated between Ginny and Jamie. He noticed Jason was sitting with Adam and Simon, their heads were together and Harry could only imagine the mischief they were planning.

Harry enjoyed the meal and the company but was preoccupied because of the memory of Jason's mom he had had earlier. Once dinner was over and the tables were cleared he went in search of Lori. He really needed to talk to Lori but every time he almost made it to her someone pulled him into a conversation.

Finally, he found her talking to Fred and Ron in the living room. "Lori," he called to her from the doorway.

She looked over and saw him, "Harry, how are you?"

He motioned for her to join him. When she did he stated simply, "We need to talk. Alone."


	12. I Don't Know What to Believe

1Lori nodded, "I know. Why don't we go somewhere quiet and get a drink and we can talk. I promise I'll tell you everything I know. Just let me tell Fred that I'm leaving."

When she went to find Fred, Harry walked over to where Ginny was talking with Hermione and Katie. "Ginny, can I talk to you for a minute?" he quietly asked her.

"Sure," she stood up. "I'll be right back," she told the other two women. 

Harry gently guided her to an empty corner. "Gin, I need to talk to Lori about some things. Do you mind taking Jason home?" 

"Of course I don't mind, is something wrong, Harry?" she put a hand on his arm and looked up at him with concern.

"I promise I will explain everything to you when I get home," he explained quietly.

"Okay, I'll wait up for you," she stood on her tiptoes to give him a tender kiss.

He kissed her back, "Thanks, Gin. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Lori was waiting for Harry near the front door. He gave Ginny one more quick kiss and walked over to join her.

"Fred told me about a pub called The Wolf's Bane. It's near his store in Diagon Alley. Do you want to go there?"

"Sure, wherever."

"Harry, are you angry with me?"

"What do you think, Lori? You lied to me for ten years." He quietly uttered, "Let's go."

They disapparated with double 'pops'. Harry looked around at he small bar they had appartated into. A gleaming wooden bar dominated one side of the small space. Only a few other people were in the tavern and most of them were seated on stools at the bar. There were also several small round wooden tables scattered throughout the room. Lori led Harry to one of these tables in the far corner near a large stone fireplace.

As soon as they sat down, a young witch wearing scarlet colored robes came over to their table.

"Can I get you something," she asked in a bored voice.

"We'll have two butterbeers please," Lori ordered for them.  
They sat in silence while they waited for their drinks. When the server had delivered the two drinks, Lori looked at Harry, "Is there anything in particular you want to start with?"

"Yes. Was Megan a witch?"

Lori stared at him with a shocked look, "How did you find out about that?"

"I had a memory of being at the Quidditch World Cup and I saw the two of you."

"Talk about a small world," she mumbled. "Yes, Harry, she was. She was my partner at the WPA. We were both assigned to ensure your safety when you were relocated to the States." She looked into his jade eyes, "You have to understand, Harry, when we first met you, you were so lonely and grief stricken. Despite your memories being removed, the grief was so deep that it remained. You believed the grief was due to your parents having just died but we knew the real cause. She only wanted to relieve some of your pain. Initially, she was only trying to be your friend. She knew about Ginny and knew no one would ever replace her in your heart, even if you couldn't remember her." Lori sighed before continuing, "Harry when she found out she was pregnant with Jason, she did not know what to do. She came to me in a panic. She wanted to just disappear with the baby but I told her to talk to you. As you know, when you found out you were so excited about the baby. There was no way she could take him from you. And being the honorable man that you are, you insisted on getting married. Please believe me, she never meant to deceive you or hurt you."

He ran his fingers through his hair, "I don't know what to believe anymore. My whole life is not what I thought it was."

Lori began again, "Harry, there's something else you need to know about Meg." She reached a hand out and placed it on top of his, "She did not die in a car accident. She died protecting you and Jason from a Death Eater who had somehow found you."

"What," he asked unbelieving.

"I don't know all of the details but somehow she managed to orb the two of you to safety. She then faced the Death Eater. By the time we got there, it was too late. Your memory was modified and you were made to believe it was a car accident that killed her."

"Harry, are you okay?" she asked when he put his head in his hands.

"Yeah, I think so," he looked up at her. "I think I'm going to take a walk and try to clear my head."

"Alright," she replied.

He stood up to and headed towards the exit. He turned when she called out to him.  
"Harry, let me know if you need anything. I'm going to stick around here for a while."

He grinned at her, "Would that be due to a certain redhead wizard?"

She blushed, "Maybe."

With a final glance and half smile over his shoulder at her, he pushed open the door and stepped into the cool night air. He did not know how long he wandered the streets but eventually he decided to apparate home. His head was a lot clearer and he wanted to nothing more than to see Ginny and his kids.

He appeared in the living room. He smiled at the sight of Ginny sleeping on the sofa in the moonlight. Her bright hair was spread out on the pillow around her head as though it was a halo. Being as quiet as possible so he did not wake her, he slipped his cloak off. Silently, he slipped down the hall to peek in on both kids.

Jamie's door was the one he came to first. As he stared at her sleeping peacefully, he thought sadly of everything that he had missed in her younger years. But, he told himself, if he had not left he would not have Jason, so maybe everything happened for a reason. He was going to do everything he could though to make up for lost time with Jamie. 

Jamie stirred in her sleep. Harry quickly closed her door without a sound so he did not wake her up. Jason was sleeping in the room was next to Jamie's. As he reached to open the door, he thought about how wonderful it was that Jamie and Jason got along so well. It brought such joy to him to see the two of them together. 

What he saw when he opened the door caused his heart to jump to his throat. Jason's bed was empty. The blankets were rumpled as though the bed had been slept in. A breeze came in through the open window causing the curtains to sway. Harry told himself to calm down, there had to be a simple explanation for this. Maybe he had slept over at George and Katie's house. Jason had made friends with their twin boys and they had been playing together that evening. Even though he tried to convince himself of this, his heart continued to race.

He returned to the living room where Ginny was sleeping. This time he knelt by the sofa and shook her shoulders gently to wake her up. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him. She must have noticed the terror in his eyes because she quickly sat up. "Harry, what's wrong? Are you okay, was it something that you remembered?"

"Gin, where's Jason?"

"He should be in his room. He played with Adam and Simon all evening and was exhausted when we came home. Why?" She looked at him with concern shining in her eyes. "Harry?"

Harry felt more terror in that moment than he could ever remember feeling before. "Ginny, he's not in his room. I stopped in to check on him and Jamie when I came home and he's not there." He fearfully told her.

"It's okay, Harry. We'll find him," she put her arms around him briefly. She then got up and made her way to the fireplace. "I'm going to ask the rest of the family if they've seen him."

He followed her across the room. The feeling of hopelessness increased in him. In this world, he did not even know where to begin looking for his son.

Ginny reached for the container of Floo powder and threw some into the fireplace. Green flames erupted in the grate, she kneeled onto her knees and leaned her upper body into the flames. He could hear her talking to each of her brothers in turn. She finished by speaking with her dad. She stood up and looked at Harry with fear evident in her eyes. Before she could tell him what she had learned from talking to her family, the room began to fill up with Weasleys.

Jamie came in from the hallway rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?" she asked when she saw her family gathered in the living room. Even for her family, it was odd to gather at one in the morning.

"Jamie," Harry rushed to her and pulled her close.

"Dad, what's wrong? Why is everyone here?" She looked up at him with fear starting to form in her eyes.

Ginny walked over and put her hands on Jamie's shoulders. "Sweetheart, do you know where Jason is?"

She looked at them with confusion. "What do you mean, isn't he in his room?"


	13. I'm Glad You're Not Dead

Bill quickly took charge. "I'm going to go to the Ministry and find out what I can. Tonks, you can come with me and get some Aurors working on a search. George, start checking with anyone you can think of to see if anyone's seen him. Lori, contact the American Ministry and find out if they know anything." In the excitement no one took note of the fact that she and Fred had arrived together. "Fred, Ron, Katie, Hermione, Amy, Fleur and Charlie you guys start checking the area near here. Ginny, you and mum need to stay here with the kids in case Jason returns here. Dad, contact Dumbledore, we may need his assistance in this."

"No need, Arthur. I'm here."

Dumbledore quickly made his way to Harry who had still not released Jamie. He gently pulled Harry from her. "Harry, I fear we may have to rush the memory process. You will need to know everything in order to save your son. Please come with me."

"I can't. I have to find Jason," he responded in a terrified voice.

"Harry, until you remember what we could be dealing with, you will be more of a hindrance than a help. We can work quickly and you can join the search."

Harry silently nodded his head in agreement.

Everyone quickly headed off to his or her assigned task. The war against Voldemort had left them well prepared for this type of mission. Harry embraced Ginny and Jamie before he and Dumbledore exited through the fireplace to travel to Hogwarts.

Once they were there, Dumbledore pulled the pensieve of Harry's memories down from a shelf behind his desk. He swirled the substance until he found what he was looking for. "Harry, once you receive this memory, which is your final memory before you left, you will have all of your memories back. I'm sorry we cannot deal with them slower but I'm sure you agree Jason's safety is more important right now."

"Absolutely, lets get this done so I can find my son."

Harry found himself in front of a cave. He saw his younger self stumble from the entrance. His robes were ripped and there were bloody slashes across his arms and face. As he exited the cave, he scanned the field before him. Suddenly, in the distance he noticed a dark figure kneeling by a still body.

He struggled towards the pair, "No! Leave him alone!"

Professor Snape looked up at him, "Potter, shut up!" he hissed.

Harry shoved Snape away from Ron's supine body. Tears were streaming down Harry's face. "You killed him! How could you have killed him?"  
Before Snape could reply, a group of Death Eaters came over the top of the hill. "Potter, go! Get out of here, they're going to kill you!"

"I won't leave without Ron!" he cried.

"Shut up, you stupid boy! Don't you understand anything? You have to go, NOW!"

Harry began to argue some more but Snape pointed his wand at Harry. In a flash of purple light, Harry felt the world spin and he landed hard on a stone floor. It was the room from his dream! He looked over and saw his younger self curl into a ball on the floor and sob. As he helplessly watched from the shadows of the room, the young man cried himself empty.

He lay still for a long time. Finally, he picked himself up and sat in one of the chairs. Soon Professor Dumbledore joined him. He sat in the chair across from Harry. The two of them sat in silence for several moments.

Harry was first to break the silence, "Sir, is the option we discussed last year still available to me?" He looked up with a newfound determination gleaming in his eyes.

Dumbledore nodded in response, "Are you sure that is what you want to do?"

"I don't know any other way to keep them safe. I have put too many people whom I love in danger for too long and I won't do it anymore. I can't do it anymore. As long as I am with them, they will be in danger. No matter how much it might hurt me, this way will be better for them."

"If you are sure, then I will contact the necessary people and the process can be completed in less than an hour. I wish that I didn't agree with you but I fear you may be correct. I wish there was some way you could keep the memory of how proud we all are of you and how much you are loved." The older man placed one of his hands over the younger man's hand. "Is there anything you want to do before the process is started?"

"One thing, sir, is there anyway I can see them one last time"

"Absolutely," Dumbledore waved his wand and a mirror appeared on the table. Reflected in the mirror was not the image of the room in which they sat. Instead pictured in it was a Ginny; in her arms was Jamie with her head full of red curls and vivid green eyes. Ginny was sitting in a rocking chair and was singing to his little girl. He reached his hand out to the images and touched the cool glass. A single tear ran down his cheek. He brushed the tear away and looked up at Dumbledore.

"I'm ready."

"Very well, I will return shortly." With a loud "pop" Dumbledore was gone.

"Harry?" he could hear Dumbledore calling him from far away. "Harry?" With a shake to his shoulders, Dumbledore was finally able to pull Harry from the memory. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know. I think so. But I don't understand. I saw Snape kill Ron but Ron's not dead."

"We have a lot to discuss but we need to find Jason first. And Harry, its Professor Snape."

The two men used a portkey to return to Ginny's house. When they arrived, Ginny rushed to Harry and clinched him. He noticed that her eyes were slightly swollen.

"Harry, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," she began to cry again.

"Ginny, no, its not your fault. Don't cry, sweetheart," he raised her chin and looked into her eyes.

She smiled slightly through her tears. With a small sniffle she sat back down by her father who put his arm around her shoulders. He noticed that Jamie was staring out the window, Harry went to her.

"Jamie, are you okay?"

"Sure. I'm just worried about Ja-Jason," she finished with a small whimper.

Harry wrapped his arms around his daughter. "Oh, baby, its okay. We'll find him and he'll be fine."

"Promise?" she looked up at him. "Dad, do you think this is my fault?" At his confused look, she continued, "I was jealous that he got to be with you while you were gone and I wished that he would just go away for a while. I didn't want anything bad to happen to him." Tears began to fall as she finished.

"Jamie, this is not your fault. Or your mum's. We need to stay strong so we can find Jason, okay."

"Okay," she turned to face him and gave him a bone-crushing hug. She went to join Georgia and her other cousins in the kitchen.

Suddenly, Ron and Charlie appeared in the room. "Harry. Good you're back. We need to get to the Ministry. Bill and the others are waiting for us at his office," Ron quickly informed Harry.

"Alright, lets go," he moved to join the two men. "Hey, Ron?"

"Yeah, Harry."

"I'm glad you're not dead."

"Uh, thanks? Me too," Ron said with bewilderment in his voice.

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Thank you all for the wonderful reviews you have given me. They make my day! I'm sorry I don't have time to respond to them indivdually. Hopefully I will get some more free time soon and will be able tosend personal responsesbut until then;Thanks again! If anyone has a question that has not been answered, feel free to e-mail and I will answer as soon as I can. Jen


	14. Where's My Son?

They arrived at Bill's office to find most of the Weaslys along with several people Harry assumed were all Aurors. A few of these he recognized but there were several unfamiliar faces as well. Bill stood up from behind his desk, as they entered, "We don't have a lot of time so I'll explain quickly what we know."

Harry and Ron joinded Hermione and Lori near the front of the group. He noticed several wizards standing behind Lori that he did not recognize. Bill looked at everyone in the group and started again, "We have reason to believe that Jason is being held at the old Malfoy Manor. Apparently, some Death Eaters saw Harry and Jason at St. Mungo's the first day they were back."

"What are we waiting for, let's go get him," Harry cried.

"Harry, we need to be careful to insure Jason is not injured. Now, we think they took Jason to lure you to them, Harry. We don't think they would have hurt him yet because that would get rid of any leverage they have." He stopped and stared at Harry. "Harry, we are going to have to use you as bait, are you up to it?" At Harry's silent nod, he continued, "I think it would be best if we split into two groups. One to provide backup to Harry and one to find Jason."

"Tonks, can you lead the backup team? You and Harry have a lot of experience fighting together so I think that will help."

Tonks nodded, "Of course, who will be with me?"

"Why don't you take Fred, Charlie, Hermione, and the Aurors. Ron, can you lead a team to find Jason?"

"Absolutely," he replied.

"Good, take Lori and her brothers with you. Tonks, your group will need to leave first and the other group will be right behind you. Harry, let them think you are alone first and we can use the element of surprise. Use invisibility cloaks for everyone."

Tonks summoned invisibiltiy cloaks and handed them to everyone leaving with her except Harry. They said farewell to everyone else and quickly apparated.

Harry stared up at the dilapadated house in front of him. He could tell that at one time it had been majestic but had fallen into desrepair. Several windows were boarded up and paint had long since peeled off of many sections.

He knew others were with him but they had all slipped their cloaks on and were silent.

"Harry," he heard Tonks whisper from his right. "Hermione, Fred, Charlie, and I will enter in the front with you. The others will use various entrances. You ready?"

"Yes," he answered. He walked to the front door with a determination in his steps. With a deep breath, he pulled the front door open. Cobwebs hit him in the face when he stepped through the door. It was so dark he could only see a short ways in front of him. He pulled his wand from his pocket, "Lumos," he uttered.

A dim light was shining under a door at the end of the room. He made his way to this door and slowly turned the doorknob. When he stepped into the room, he glared at the man standing in the center of the room.

"Potter," the blonde man sneered.

"Where's my son, Malfoy," Harry asked with disdain in his voice. He pointed his wand at Malfoy's chest.

"Is that anyway to greet an old acquaintance? Where are your manners, Potter?"

Harry stepped toward Malfoy with hate filling his eyes. "Tell me where Jason is! You'd better not hurt him!"

"I don't appreciate your tone."

Fear and hate flowed through Harry's veins. He wanted nothing more than to curse Malfoy into oblivian but he knew he could not until he knew Jason was safe.

Malfoy whipped his wand out of his robes, "I have been waiting a long time to do this. Cruc—"

Before he could finish, Harry heard a voice behind him cry, "Expelliarmus!"

The wand flew out of Malfoy's hand and Tonks caught it as she shed her cloak. "You didn't think we would let Harry have all the fun by himself. Did you?"

Malfoy's eyes widened at the sight of the people appearing behind Harry. Suddenly, a scream was heard from outside the room, "No!"

"Lori!", Harry hollered and raced from the room with Fred close on his heels. When the reached the hallway, they followed the screams down the hall. As they reached the end of the hall, the screams stopped. The abrupt silence caused Harry's heart to race even faster. They skidded around the corner and at the end of the hall found one of Lori's brothers cradling her still body. He looked up when Harry and Fred reached them.

"Ryan, what happened?" Fred inquired with his fear evident in his eyes and his voice.

"We found Jason and were leaving when a group of Death Eaters saw us. We ran for the door but they caught us. They started throwing curses our way and Jason was almost hit by a Cruciatus Curse but Lori shielded him with her body. Ron took Jason and escaped. The Death Eater kept cursing her and we could not get past the others to stop her," he looked down at his sister's unmoving form with tears forming in his steel gray eyes. "Then they suddenly left. It was almost as if someone signaled them to leave. Alan, Erik, and Lance followed them but I couldn't leave her. We have to get her help, she still has a pulse, but barely."

"Fred, take them to St. Mungo's. I'm going to check on everyone else and hopefully get out of here," Harry instructed.

Harry headed back to where he had left the others. He entered the room and found the floor littered with bound Death Eaters. Stepping over several, he entered the room and looked around to insure his family and the Aurors were okay. He breathed a sigh of relief when saw they were all fine. They were gathered in the center of the room, many with wands still aimed at Death Eaters.

Hermione noticed him enter the room and made her way to him. "Harry, what happened? Is Lori and everyone okay? Did you see Ron, is he alright?"

"Ron took Jason and escaped. Fred and Ryan took Lori to St. Mungo's. I don't know if she's going to be okay. I'm not sure where everyone else is."

"Her other brothers followed some Death Eaters in here and helped us fight them. But Harry, Malfoy escaped."

"I'll find him again. Don't worry, he will pay for this."


	15. Is Anyone Here?

The Aurors effeciently transported the Death Eaters to the ministry, there they would be held until they could be sentenced. Charlie left to go and inform Bill of the outcome of the mission. Lori's three brothers went to St. Mungo's to check on her condition.

Once everyone else had departed, Harry linked arms with Hermione, "I imagine Ron would have taken Jason back to Ginny's. Care to join me?"

With a smile she answered, "Sure, let's go."

The two friends aparated arm in arm to Ginny's house. When they arrived, their smiles quickly faded. No one was there and the living room was in shambles. Cushions were split open and their stuffing filled the room. Furniture was overturned. Shards of glass littered the floor.

"Ginny? Jamie? Ron? Arthur? Anyone!" they hollered as they searched the home. Each room they came to was in the same condition as the living room. In Jamie's bedroom, Harry heard a small whimper. He ran into the room and under a pile of debris found the baby, Matthew.

"Hey there, little guy. What happened?" He quietly comforted the baby by gently rubbing his back.

Hermione rushed to his side, "Oh, precious, its okay, mama's here."

Harry handed her son to her. Instantly, the little boy laid his head on her shoulder and began sucking on his thumb. With despair, the two adults looked at each other.

"Harry, what happened? Where is everyone?" she questioned with terror in her voice as she scanned the room.

"I don't know, Hermione." He ran a hand through his black hair. "Ahhhh! How much am I expected to take. I just found everyone and now they are all being ripped away from me." He abruptly punched the wall nearest him.

"Harry, I know your upset but we have to look for them. My husband and babies are missing and I am not going to just stand around and feel sorry for myself. You can come with me or not but I am going to go get Bill and Charlie and everyone else to help me look for them."

"Hermione, you're right. Of course I'm coming with you, let's go."

For the second time that night, they appeared in Bill's office. Charlie was filling Bill in on what had happened at the Malfoy Manor. When they arrived, Bill stood up and started to congratulate them on a successful mission, he noticed the looks on their faces because he abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"We went back to Ginny's assuming that we would find our families there but when we got there the place has been ransacked and everyone was gone but Matthew. We know they would not have left him there voluntarily."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" Charlie asked.

"Gone as in they're not there!" Hermione screeched. "Now can we please find them?"

"Calm down, sweetie. We're going to find everyone," Bill reassured her. "Have you checked anywhere else?"

"No, we came here first."

"Okay, Charlie and Harry go check Ron's house and The Burrow. Hermione go to George and Katie's and let them know," Bill instructed. "I'll see what I can find out here."

Harry and Charlie apparated quickly to Ron's house. Arriving there, they found it quiet and dark.

"Hello? Is anyone here," they called out as they made their way though the house.

The two men checked each room and once they were sure the house was empty, they headed for The Burrow. They arrived in the kitchen and found it was as empty as Ron's house had been. Making their way to the living room, they were shocked to find Molly lying on the sofa.

"Mum, are you okay?" Charlie hurried to her side. When she did not respond, he looked up at Harry, "I think she's asleep."

She groggily opened one eye and then the other when she saw they were both staring at her. Slowly she sat up and looked around confused.

"What am I doing here?"

"I don't know, mum. We were going to ask you that."

"I can't remember, its kind of foggy. Give me some time and I think it'll come to me."

"Molly, is anyone else here with you?"

"I don't know."

Harry quickly searched the rest of the house while Charlie stayed with his mum. He found no one else and hurried back to the others.

"Okay, lets go back to Bill's office and see if they found anything out." He noticed his mother-in-law was still looking a bit disoriented. "Molly do you think you can apparate?" he gently asked her.  
"Yeah, I think so."

"Okay, lets go."

The arrived back at Bill's office to find that Katie and George had joined Hermione.

"Mum! What happened? Where is everyone else?" George questioned his mother when he saw she was with Charlie and Harry.

"What are you talking about? Who else is missing?" she began to panic slightly.

"Way to go, George. Now you've upset her," Charlie grumbled at his brother.

"Sorry, I figured you would have told her."

Bill guided his mum to the sofa and gently pushed her down onto it. "Mum, don't panic but we don't know where Dad, Ginny, Ron, and their kids are. Harry and Hermione got to Ginny's house and found it was ransacked and no one was there but Matthew." He sat down next to her, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Not really, I was at Ginny's waiting for someone to let us know what was going on. Then Ron came in with Jason. It gets a little foggy after that and the next thing I really remember is waking up on my own sofa."

Just as she finished, the door to Bill's office opened. Hermione's kids and Jamie came bounding in the door. Following them was Dumbledore.

Hermione tried to grab all of her kids at once and hug them. Harry had an easier time pulling Jamie to him.

Dumbledore addressed everyone, "I believe these belong to you. It was the strangest thing, I was taking my evening walk and found this gang in the Great Hall.


	16. I'm Not Sure How I Got Here

His statement caused the adults in the room to look at him with bewildered looks on their faces.

Bill spoke for everyone when he asked, "What do you mean? How would they have gotten there on their own?"

Dumbledore took a seat, "At this point, I am not entirely sure." He looked towards Jamie and Georgia who were standing between Harry and Hermione, "Could you two tell me what happened to send you to Hogwarts?"

Jamie looked at him a little apprehensive, "Yes, sir. Um, we were all waiting for my Dad or someone to come and tell us anything about Jason. And then Uncle Ron came in with Jason. We were really excited to see them. And Jason was super happy to be safe, I think he had been really scared. Anyway, he picked up Uncle Ron's wand and --"

Georgia interrupted, "Then crazy things started to happen. The windows broke. And the sofa like blew up or something! Then there was a big flash of light and the next thing I knew we were at Hogwarts, which was really great because I have always wanted to see it." She said all of this very quickly.

Dumbledore pondered the two girls' words for a moment, "I'm not entirely sure but I think Jason sent them."

"What? How could he have done that?" Harry questioned.

"Well, I think his strong emotion at the time, combined with the fact that he comes from two very powerful wizarding families and grabbing a wand may have caused his magic to, shall I say, explode. Now as to why the girls showed up at Hogwarts, I've not figured that out quite yet."

"Why didn't we all go to the same place? I mean I ended up at The Burrow," Molly asked. "And where is everyone else?"

Suddenly, Dumbledore looked at Molly, "Where you like to be more than anywhere else in the world?"

"What? I don't know, I guess at home, not worrying about anyone."

He nodded, "And Georgia, you said that you had always wanted to see Hogwarts. Would you say that it was the place you would most like to go to?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"How about the rest of you girls? Did you want to go to Hogwarts more than anywhere else?"

All four girls nodded. "Yeah, mum and dad always tell us how much fun it was," Danny exclaimed.  
"Well, that explains it."

"Explains what," George questioned.

"Everyone was sent to the place they most want to be. We just need to figure out where those places are. Oh, and I'm not entirely sure but I think Ron and Jason will be together since Jason had Ron's wand. Unfortunately, I'm not sure whose place they will have gone to. We'll have to check both, I suppose," Dumbledore explained. "We should just be relieved he was happy and not scared or angry. Who knows where everyone would have ended up then."

"Okay," George nodded in understanding. "Well, where would dad go? Any ideas?"

"Knowing your father, probably somewhere with crazy Muggle goods," Molly rolled her eyes slightly. "I guess I'll go look for him," she told them.

"I'll help you, mum," George told her. He decided with Molly who would look where and the two of them quickly left.

Bill looked at those remaining in the room, "Any ideas where Ginny would go?"

"I think I know," Harry quietly told them.

"Okay, why don't you look for her and we will start looking for Ron and Jason. We can check places we think Ron would go and if we don't find them before you get back, you can help us check some places Jason would go," Hermione suggested.

"Alright," Harry agreed. "I'll meet you guys back here in an hour."

He crossed his fingers that he was right and aparated out of Bill's office. When he arrived at his destination, he took a moment to gaze around him. The moon was bright and reflected off the water. Waves gently lapped at the shore. A soft breeze carried the scent of seawater and tropical flowers.

Further down the beach, he saw the moonlight reflecting off of her fiery hair. She was leaning against a large rock with her arms wrapped around her knees staring out over the water. Silently, he made his way to her. When he was next to her, he sat down.

"Hi, Harry," she said without looking at him.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"I always know when you're near. I smelled you."

"Are you saying I stink?"  
"No," she laughed. "It's one of my favorite smells in the world. It's hard to explain but its you. When you first were gone, I would sleep with one of your shirts so I could smell you."

He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. His chin rested on the top of her head.

"I'm not sure how I got here, but I'm glad I am. How did you know I was here?"

"Dumbledore figured out that Jason accidently sent everyone to the place they most wanted to be. I guessed you would be here because this is where I would most want to be," he kissed her hair. "We had a great time here, didn't we? It was one week when we didn't have to worry about anything else."

"Yeah," she turned slightly to look up into his eyes. "Harry, will you answer a question for me?"

"Anything."

"Did you love Jason's mother?"

"Wow, that's an interesting question," he sighed. "I loved her as a dear friend but not in the passionate way I love you. I think a part of me will always love her because she gave me Jason. But we only knew each other for a couple of years. We were friends and thanks to some grief and a lot of alcohol, she got pregnant with Jase. I thought I had to marry her, for the baby's sake. And I was lonely. She died when Jason was about a year old." He entwined the fingers of one hand with Ginny's. "I found out earlier from Lori that Megan kept a lot from me," he paused for a second. "She was witch."

"What? She never told you?"

"No, she was Lori's partner in the WPA and they were assigned to keep an eye on me. She couldn't tell me."

For several minutes they sat in silence and held each other. Finally Ginny broke the silence, "Harry?"

"Yeah."

"I want you to know that I'm okay with Jason. I wasn't sure I really was until tonight when he was missing," she told him. "I also understand that you only left to protect us. Dumbledore came by earlier when you were with Lori and we had a long talk."

Gently, he kissed her with tears in both of their eyes, "I love you."

"I love you, too."


	17. Where Were You?

When Harry and Ginny returned to Bill's office they found the room empty. Harry noticed a piece of parchment lying on the gleaming mahogany desk with his name printed on it. He picked it up and read it aloud:

Harry (and hopefully Ginny),

Everyone is safe and sound and with us at Ron and Hermione's house. The kids were getting tired so we took them there to get some sleep. Meet us there when you can. If Ginny is not with you we will help you look for her.

B.W.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked Ginny. "Personally, I'm kind of interested in where Ron and Jason ended up."

"Me too," she laughed.

With a loud 'crack', they appeared in Ron and Hermione's crowded living room. The older kids were gathered around Ron who was very excitedly talking to them. Arthur had managed to corner Jason and was questioning him all about appliances. Fred had rejoined the group and was in quiet conversation with Katie, George, and Hermione on the sofa. Molly was rocking Matthew to sleep. Ron's youngest daughter, Josie, and George's youngest child, Veronica, were curled up together sleeping in a large armchair. The remaining people in the room, Bill, Charlie, and Dumbledore, were having what appeared to be a deep discussion near the large front window.

It took a moment for anyone to notice the new arrivals. Harry and Ginny silently stood in the middle of the room happily observing everyone. Jason was the first one to spot them.

"Dad!" he flung himself across the room at his father.

Harry caught his son in a big bear hug, "Jason, are you okay? I was so worried about you."

"Yeah, I'm okay now. I was really scared but Uncle Ron saved me and then we went to the coolest place," he gave Harry a lopsided grin. "Hi, Ginny!" he surprised her by giving her a big hug.

"Oh, yeah," Harry raised an eyebrow. "Where did you go?"

"I don't know what it's called but it was awesome!"

Ron walked over to them with a sheepish look on his face, "Well, you see, there is this place in the States that I heard about and apparently it was where I most wanted to go and Jason was holding onto my wand so he came along. And we couldn't get back on our own because my wand broke. Again. "

"Ron, where did you go?" Harry questioned.

He blushed slightly and mumbled "Wizard World."

"What in the name of Merlin is that?"

Hermione spoke up, "It's similar to a Muggle amusement park. A Muggle born witch in America had the idea to open it." She rolled her eyes at Ron, "Apparently my oh so mature husband wanted to go there more than anywhere else."

"Hey, it was fun," Ron argued. "Wasn't it, Jason?"

"Yeah, it was," Jason quickly agreed. "Can we go again? My dad and Ginny might want to go. Do you guys?"

"We'll see," Harry then looked at Hermione. "How did you know to look for them there?"

"Ron kept bugging me about taking the kids there for vacation. So I guessed," she shrugged.

"Hey, dad," Ginny turned to her father. "Where were you?"

"I was at the most amazing place. I believe it was called an ekeltronic store," he grinned at his daughter. "You would not believe some of the things Muggles have come up with."

Harry laughed when he noticed Hermione and Molly were giving their husbands identical exasperated looks.

The sun was just beginning to rise as more of the kids began to fall asleep and several adults looked like they were ready to drop as well. Gradually, parents started picking up small children and rousing older kids to head home to get a couple hours of sleep. Harry picked Jason up, who had finally succumbed to his exhaustion, and followed Ginny and a very sleepy Jamie home.

Everyone collapsed into their beds when they made it home, Harry in the same room as Jason to give himself peace of mind that Jason remained safe. In all the excitement, Harry had not gotten a chance to ask Jason how he had gotten to Malfoy Manor.

Harry was the first to wake up. After verifying that everyone was where he or she should be, he quietly got showered and dressed. Making his way to the kitchen he decided to surprise everyone by making breakfast. As he was looking for what he needed to make bacon and eggs, Jamie walked in rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, Jamie," Harry greeted her.

"Morning," she responded and yawned. "What are you doing?"

"I thought I would make breakfast for everyone," he told her. "Do you want to help?"

"Sure," Jamie grinned at her dad.

As they worked together, Harry kept thinking about how much Jamie looked like Ginny. Except for her eyes, she was the exact image of her mum when Harry had first met her. He noticed her Hogwarts letter lying on the table and he realized that in less than two months he would be taking her to the Hogwarts Express. It seemed impossible to him that she was old enough to start Hogwarts to him she should still be a toddler not a young woman ready to head off to Hogwarts.

Before he could get too emotional, Jason came bouncing into the room with his usual overload of energy. Following him was Ginny, once Jason was up it was pretty much impossible for anyone to sleep.

"Morning!" Jason loudly greeted them. "Is that almost done? I'm starving!"

"Yes," Harry answered. "Why don't you sit the table?"

"Kay!"

Ginny walked over to Harry and gave him a quick hug, "Mmm that smells wonderful."

"Thanks, have a seat. We're almost done."

Jamie and Harry carried the food over and joined Ginny and Jason at the table. Harry smiled when he realized this was the first meal just the four of them had shared together. If he was not worried about Lori and had the fact that Malfoy had escaped hanging over his head, he would have thought life was perfect right now.

When they were finished eating, Ginny said she would take care of the dishes. Jamie headed off to take a shower and get ready for the day. After speaking to Jason about what had happened the previous night, Harry found out two Death Eaters had snuck into Jason's room and stunned him before he could call out for Ginny.

Harry felt a slow rage boiling up inside of him. His son had been attacked while sleeping in his own bed. At that moment he decided that those responsible would pay the consequences. But right now he had to take care of something more important.


	18. But I Saw Him

Harry made his way down the corridor of St. Mungo's with Jason. He had brought his son to the hospital this afternoon because Jason was extremely worried about Lori. He had seen her get hit with the torturous curse several times before Ron had been able to escape with him.

A small hand slipped into his. Harry was surprised, Jason had not wanted to hold his hand since he had been a very little boy. He gave Jason's hand a gentle squeeze and looked down at his son.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he looked down at his scuffed sneakers. "Daddy," he said in a very small voice, "is Aunt Lori going to die?"

Harry's heart broke as he heard the fear in his son's voice. He stopped and knelt down to Jason's level. "Jase, she's going to be fine. I talked to one of the Healers earlier and they said she's okay. She'll probably be really tired for a while but before you know it she'll be good as new."

Jason threw his arms around his dad's neck, which took Harry by surprise and caused him to lose his balance. He grinned as he heard Jason's laughter at his father sprawled on the floor. It occurred to him that he did not know what he would have done if any harm had come to his son last night.

Once Harry picked himself up from off the floor, father and son made their way to Lori's room. Harry's worry disappeared rapidly when he saw Lori sitting up in bed eating lunch. He grinned when he saw Fred was sitting in the chair next to her bed. It was Fred who noticed Harry and Jason enter.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hi," Jason replied. He then ran to Lori's bedside and thrust the bouquet of wildflowers he had in his hand at her. Harry pulled a chair up next to Fred as he listened to Jason animatedly talk to Lori.

"So," Harry said to Fred after sitting for awhile in comfortable silence. "I'm surprised you're the only one here."

"There was a crowd in here earlier but George, Katie, and Charlie got into an argument with Lori's brothers over whether American or British Quidditch was better and the Healer kicked everyone else out."

Harry laughed, "I'm shocked Ron missed that."

"Shocked that Ron missed what?" Ron asked from the doorway where he stood with Hermione, Ginny, Jamie, and Georgia. "Hey, Lori how are you feeling?" he asked with concern.

"Hi, guys," she greeted the newcomers. "I feel fine, thanks. Just really want to get out of here, but the Healer insists that I stay a while longer."

The group visited with each other for a while. At one point Ron stood up and told everyone he had to leave to get to practice on time. He looked over at Jason on his way to the door, "Jason, you want to come? I mean if it's okay with your dad."

"Can I dad, please, please, please," Jason pleaded. From the first he had seen a game of Quidditch he had been fascinated by it. He had been in awe of Ron ever since he found out he played Quidditch professionally. Add to that the fact that Ron was the one who had rescued him the night before and Jason was beginning to think the sun revolved around Ron.

Harry gave his okay. Jason followed Ron out the door. Everyone could hear his excited chatter and Ron's amused laughter as they made their way down the hall.

Shortly after Ron and Jason departed, Ginny and Hermione left to take the girls school shopping. Harry walked them to the exit. When he came back he found Fred and Lori talking quietly. He watched from the doorway with a knowing smile as Fred reached up and tucked a lock of Lori's black hair behind her ear. Silently he turned to leave, he did not think they would mind if he left without saying goodbye.

Since everyone else was occupied for the day, he decided to pay Professor Dumbledore a visit. He had lot of questions that needed answering. When he reached the lobby, he went to one of the fireplaces and with a sigh grabbed the floo powder. "Hogwarts, Headmaster's office!" he yelled as he stepped into the green flames.

"Harry, I've been expecting you," Dumbledore greeted him as he tumbled onto the floor of the headmaster's office. He indicated the chair in front of his desk, "Have a seat. I imagine you have a lot of questions. I will answer everything that I can."

He settled onto the chair. "Yes, sir, I do have a lot of questions and I don't know if all of them can even be answered. I mean how can it be that I remember seeing Snape kill Ron but Ron is very much alive ten years later."

"Harry, Professor Snape did not kill Ron. He saved both Ron and yourself that night."

Harry looked up at his former headmaster with disbelief in his eyes. "But I saw him kill Ron!"

Dumbledore continued to look at him calmly, "Harry, think back to your memory. What did you actually see?"

After a moment, Harry looked up. "He was kneeling by Ron's body and he had his wand pointed at Ron as if he had been cursing him. He told me to leave but I wouldn't. The next thing I remember is being in that room where you came to."

"I have put together the events of that night based on what you, Ron, and Remus told me. You may have to ask them to answer some of your questions. This is what I know. You and Ron were separated from the others that night. Everyone was searching for you two but with so many Death Eaters on the loose it was a continuous battle. You were drawn to the cave where Voldemort was waiting for you. Ron fought off several Death Eaters while you made your way inside. Once you were inside the cave, he became vastly outnumbered. He would have been killed but Professor Snape somehow found him. Severus Snape was a very powerful and talented wizard, Harry, he was able to cast an ancient spell that caused Ron to appear dead, however Ron was still able to hear what was going on. That was what you saw. Severus did not want the remaining Death Eaters to know he was working for the Order. From what I understand from Ron, you refused to leave without Ron. Severus was forced to send you to the only place he knew you would be safe, the room where I found you." He looked deep into Harry's eyes and paused briefly. "The Death Eaters saw him save you. They then knew he was not fighting with them. Harry, they tortured him. Remus and Charlie were the first members of the Order to find them. Charlie took Ron to St. Mungo's where he recovered for the next several months, he had been severely injured before Professor Snape got to him. Remus tried to save Severus but there were just too many Death Eaters. By the time, anyone else arrived to help, it was too late."

For several moments Harry sat in silence. Finally he was able to speak, "Snape saved my life?" Learning this simple fact had disconcerted him more than anything else he had experienced the past few days. Snape hated him, right? But if that were true, why would he have saved him. Suddenly, a realization came to him.

"If I hadn't argued with him, he wouldn't have died," he stated in a hollow voice. "I killed him and he saved me and Ron."

"No, Harry. Voldemort killed him. He died a hero's death like so many others."

Harry left Dumbledore's office a short time later. Instead of going home, he wandered the halls of Hogwarts. There were many thoughts and memories tangling themselves in his mind.

He found himself in the Great Hall and thought about the first time he had seen the magnificent room. It had been the most magnificent place he had ever seen and he remembered his nervousness at seeing so many faces watching him as the sorting hat sat on his head and argued with him. He thought about how different his life may have turned out if the hat had put him in Slytherin.

With a small smile, he turned and made his way up the grand stairway. Several portraits called out greetings to him. He was surprised when he found himself in front of the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, he had not realized that was where he was headed. The fat lady had been so pleased to see him she let him in without the password.

He stood in the middle of the common room and reminisced about the wonderful times he had spent here. The games of wizard chess with Ron, the hours spent cramming for tests, the time during hissixth year when he had finally asked Ginny out, the many arguments of Ron and Hermione that he had listened to. He chuckled to himself at the thought that so many years later they were still bickering.

When he walked up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, he spent a long time in his old room. This had been his home for seven years. Seven of the best years of his life. He realized at that moment how grateful he was to finally remember it all. With a final glance around the room, he headed back down the stairs.

After leaving the common room and saying farewell to the fat lady in the portrait, he made his way back to the entrance hall. He took a final long look around the enormous space and opened the massive doors. The sun was shining down on him as he walked down the lane. Once he left the grounds of Hogwarts, he apparated home.


	19. Surprise!

When Harry arrived home he found the house empty and quiet. He glanced at the clock that Ginny had that was similar to her mother's. Since he had his rightful name back, his worked again and pointed toward 'home'. Ginny had added Jason's the day before and his pointed to 'Quidditch'. Ginny's and Jamie's both indicated 'Diagon Alley'. Satisfied that everyone was where he or she belonged, he lay on the sofa to take a nap. Shortly after dozing off he heard his name being called.

"Harry! Ginny! Hello?"

Harry sat up and straightened his glasses. Glancing at the fireplace, he saw the head of Remus Lupin floating amongst the flames. He hurried to the fireplace.

"Remus! Great to see you. Come on in and I'll get you something to drink."

Remus's head and the rest of him stepped out of the flames. Harry noticed that his robes were no long shabby and patched. Instead he wore indigo colored robes that appeared to be brand new. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and grinned at Harry.

"I would have come by earlier, but it was a full moon two nights ago."

Harry embraced his former mentor and friend, "I understand, Tonks explained the other night. It's good to see you. Have a seat." He indicated to the sofa.

"Don't mind if I do."

Harry summoned two Butterbeers from the kitchen. Taking one for himself, he handed the other to Lupin.

"So, I understand you have a son now. From what Arthur was telling me, he sounds just like James," Remus remarked.

Harry smiled fondly, "He's a great kid, a little too curious and smart for my good. But he has a heart of gold."

"Like I said, just like James," he stared at Harry for a moment. "Like you would had been if you would have had a normal childhood." There was a slight hint of sadness in his voice.

"Yeah, well you didn't exactly have the easiest childhood either," he replied. "And I don't think either us of us turned out too bad."

"That may depend on who you ask," he laughed. "And I've watched Jamie grow up, she's amazing. Sometimes she reminds me of Lily and other times she is all Ginny. Although she has a lot of you in her also."

"Thank you," he smiled sadly. "I've missed so much with her. I don't know how I'll ever make it up to her."

"Just be there for her now, you have the rest of your life to make memories with her and the rest of your family."

The two men sat in silence for a few minutes. Harry was the first to break the silence, "So, what have you been doing for the last ten years? Whatever it is it looks like it's treating you well."

He grinned, "My life has turned out better than I ever let myself imagine it would. I have what I always dreamed of having; a family. Dora and Michael are the best things that ever happened to me," he smiled again. "I opened my own pub. I used the money that Sirius left me. Turns out I'm a pretty good bartender, I think it's because I enjoy listening to people."

Harry slapped him on the back, "That's fabulous. What's the name of it? I want to check it out."

"Actually you already did, it's the Wolf's Bane."

"Ahh, I should have guessed from the name," he smacked himself in the forehead. "It's really nice. I'll have to go back when I can just hang out for a while."

Remus looked at his gold wrist watch, "I have to head on back now, do you want to join me? I ran into Ginny and Hermione earlier and it sounded like they would not be done shopping until late."

"Sure, why not. I can't think of anything better than spending the rest of the day with an old friend. And I wanted to check out the twin's store, maybe I can do that also."

Harry noticed Remus's beaming face and thought he must be really proud of his business. They apparated together to the pub. Remus had to keep Harry from falling when they were greeted with shouts of "Surprise!"

The room was full of Harry's friends and family. Harry gazed dumbfounded around the room. On one wall a huge banner was hanging that read Happy Birthday, Harry! in ink that was flashing various colors. In all the excitement of the past two days, Harry had forgotten today was his birthday.

He looked at Remus, "Did you know about this?"

"Of course, its my pub. It was my job to keep you busy once Dumbledore let me know you had left Hogwarts and to get you here."

"Dumbledore knew too?"

"Of course I did Harry. I told the Fat Lady to let you in the tower without a password. I figured that would keep you busy for a while," Dumbledore answered from his spot near the huge cake with the Snitch zooming back and forth across it sitting on the bar.

"Wow, everyone did this for me?"

Jason, followed by Ginny and Jamie, came barreling at Harry before he had a chance to talk to anyone else.

"Were you surprised Dad?" Jamie asked with her eyes sparkling.

"I was completely shocked," he told her.

"Good, we were afraid someone," she looked pointedly at Jason, "would tell you."

"I didn't say anything," Jason pouted for a split second before he spotted Michael Lupin and Adam and Simon Weasley, "Happy Birthday, Dad!" he hollered as he ran off to join his new best friends.

Ginny and Jamie led him to a table in front of the fireplace that was loaded with gifts. On the way he spotted countless familiar faces. He laughed and waved back to the house elf, Doby, he had charmed himself to levitate above everyone so he could see Harry. "Mr. Harry Potter, sir, Happy Birthday, sir!" he squeaked excitedly.

It was one of the happiest days of Harry's life. He caught up with many old friends and met many children who had been born while he was gone. After talking to Neville Longbottom and meeting his wife, Bethany, and their children, Tyler and Betsy, he bumped into Lee Jordan.

Lee sent his shy looking daughter off to where Jamie and Georgia were gathered with several other kids who were all starting their first year at Hogwarts in a month. Harry remembered that Lee's wife, Angelina, had been one of the final casualties of the war with Voldemort. He still remembered the horrible night when Fred had told Lee the tragic news. Ginny and Harry had kept little Maggie at their house with Jamie until Lee had been able to care for her himself.

"Lee, how are you?" Harry inquired. "Maggie has become the image of her mum."

Lee smiled warmly as he watched his daughter, "I know. I don't think I would have survived without her. I wish Angelina could see her, she would be so proud of her." He turned back to Harry after quickly wiping his eyes with his sleeve, "Can you believe our little babies are heading off to Hogwarts this year?"

Harry shook his head, "No, I just hope they follow the rules a little better than we did."

Lee laughed, "That shouldn't be too hard!"

Fred and George soon called Lee over to discuss some business matters. Harry made his way to Ginny. She had her back to him so he snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.

"Hi, Harry," she said as she turned to face him. "Are you enjoying your birthday?"

He beamed at her, "Of course, thank you. It's the best birthday I've ever had."

"Better than your 18th?" she asked with an innocent smile.

His cheeks flushed as he remembered that night, "That was a pretty good one."

Jamie and Jason ran up to them breathless.

"Mum, can I spend the night with Georgia, her mum said it was okay?"

"Dad, Uncle George said it was okay if I stayed with Adam and Simon tonight. He said all I had to do was ask you. Can I?"

They gave their permission and the kids ran off to rejoin their friends.

"Do you think that was planned?" Harry asked Ginny.

"Well, maybe. I kind of mentioned to Hermione and Katie that we hadn't spent any time just the two of us."

"Hmm," Harry looked down at his petite wife. "Hey, I don't think I opened a gift from you," he teased her.

"That's because its private, you can have it when we get home." she looked at him suggestively.

"Hey, everyone!" Harry yelled. "Me and Ginny are leaving. Bye and thanks!" He grabbed her arm and they apparated home.

The party goers laughed and continued visiting with each other. No one noticed the cloaked figured at the window. The wind blew his hood off to reveal his shockingly blond hair. He glared at the people gathered in the room, "Enjoy it while it lasts," he snarled. With a 'crack' he was gone.


	20. The One She Loves

Harry woke up early the next morning. Quietly so he did not wake up Ginny, he slipped out of bed and grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt. After getting dressed and making himself some toast and a cup of coffee, he had become quite addicted to the stuff during the past ten years, he stepped out to the sprawling front porch.

He was enjoying the cool morning air when he looked up and saw a large snowy owl soaring towards him. Out of habit, he stuck his left arm out for the owl to land on.

"Hey, girl," he cooed to his old friend. "What have you got there?"

The owl held out a leg with a piece of fancy parchment attached. The letter was secured shut with a shimmery pale blue ribbon. Harry untied the package and gave Hedwig half of his toast. He grinned after he scanned the letter's contents.

He ran in the door with the type of excitement usually reserved for Jason. Reaching the bedroom, he bolted through the door, "Ginny! Guess what!"

She woke up and looked around a little confused, "Harry what are you yelling about?"

"This!" he thrust the letter at her.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and pushing her hair off her face, she opened the letter and began to read. When she reached the end, she looked up at Harry with a bright smile and a sparkle in her eyes.

"Wow, that was fast," she exclaimed. "I mean I knew it was coming but it's only been, what, three days?"

"I know I guess it was what they call love at first sight," he looked a little sheepish as he continued, "not everyone takes years to realize they love someone."

"Wow, I can't believe Fred is finally getting married," Ginny said.

"I can't wait to talk to Lori, she must be so excited," Harry stated. "I wonder when they decide this."

"Well, I guess we can ask them at lunch," Ginny voiced as she read the other note included in the package. "They want us to meet them at Remus's pub at 12."

Harry glanced at the bedside clock, "We better get ready, its almost 11:00 now."

A short while later they reappeared in The Wolf's Bane. They spotted Fred and Lori sitting in the far corner. After saying a quick hello to Remus they made their way over to the other couple.

Ginny threw her arms around Fred, "I'm so happy for you!"

Harry gave Lori a brotherly hug, "Congratulations!"

A young witch brought drinks and plates of food over to the table as they sat down. "These are on the house," she told them with a smile.

They thanked her and began eating the delicious foods. After a few minutes of silence while they enjoyed the meal, Harry spoke up, "So how did all of this come about so quickly?"

Lori beamed, "Well, after you guys left last night, Fred asked me to marry him and obviously I agreed." She looked over at her fiancee who was smiling at her, "As soon as I saw him the other day, I knew he was the only man I could spend my life with."

"When I heard her talking to her brothers about going home to America, I realized that I couldn't let her go without telling her how I felt. So I surprised even myself when I bought a ring and proposed," Fred squeezed Lori's hand gently.

Ginny smiled at the happy couple, "I can't believe you are going to plan a wedding in two weeks."

"Well, between my mom and yours, I have a feeling everything will come together just fine," Lori laughed. "We wanted to have the wedding before the kids have to go back to school."

"It's going to work out great for me," Harry began. "I need to take care of a few things back in Cleveland since we'll be in America for the wedding, I'll take care of it then."

They sat and discussed wedding plans for a while. About an hour later when the food had all been eaten and the drinks drunk, Fred and Lori stood up and said they needed to leave. They were heading back with Lori's brothers so Fred could meet the rest of Lori's family.

After Lori and Fred left, Ginny went to pick up Jamie. Since they had been planning his surprise party the day before they still needed to do Jamie's school shopping. Harry headed over to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to pick up Jason from George. When he got there Jason begged to be allowed to spend the rest of the day with the younger Weasley twins. George assured Harry it would not be a problem for him to hang out with them so Harry agreed. Finding himself alone for the day again, Harry headed to visit a friend.

"Harry! You surprised me," Hermione exclaimed as she looked up from her book to see Harry standing on her front porch.

"I heard your kids were at your parents and Ron was at practice. My girls are off shopping and that will keep them busy all day so I thought you might like to spend the day with me."

"I would love to Harry. I missed you so much while you were gone," she put her book down and made room for Harry to sit by her on the porch swing.

"Now don't go getting all emotional on me," he teased her. After a moment of comfortable silence, Harry looked at Hermione, "You and Ron have built a wonderful life together. I'm glad to see you both so happy."

Hermione smiled softly, "Yeah, we are happy. Now."

Harry looked at her confused, "What do you mean, 'now'?"

She sighed, "Ron had a really difficult time dealing with the aftermath of the last battle. He was in St. Mungo's for several months, we didn't know if he would survive." She got a distant look in her brown eyes as she remembered, "Once he came home, it was really rough. He was in a lot of pain, both physically and emotionally. After a while, he turned to Fire Whiskey. I couldn't take it, I was in pain too and I felt so alone. Finally, I took Georgia and went to my parents' house. We stayed there for several months until one day Ron showed up, he hadn't had a drink since we left. He said it took him so long to show up because he wanted to get back on his feet and prove he deserved us."

Harry looked at his dear friend and pulled her into a hug, "I'm so sorry I was not here for you."

"Harry, don't start taking the blame for everything like you used to," Hermione gently scolded him. "We made it through our rough times and our marriage is stronger because of it."

They sat together and visited for the rest of the afternoon. When it was time to pick up Jason, Harry embraced Hermione.

"Hey, watch it. That's my wife you've got in your arms. Go be touchy feely with your own wife."

They turned to find a grinning Ron standing in the front yard. Harry smiled back at his oldest friend.

"You have nothing to worry about, Ron. You're the one she loves," Harry laughed.

He waved at his friends before he left. It made him smile to see his two best friends waving at him with their arms around each other.

Harry and his family spent the next week getting ready to leave for Fred's wedding and getting Jamie ready to leave for Hogwarts. She would be leaving for school, two days after they were scheduled to return from America.

The evening before the Potter and Weasley families were leaving, Jamie was sitting alone in the backyard. Harry looked out and noticed her, he thought she looked upset so he went out to talk to her.

"Hey Jae," he said quietly so he did not scare her. "What's up?"

"Hi, dad," she looked up at him. "I was just thinking about school."

Harry thought he knew what was bothering his daughter, "I remember when I was getting ready to go to Hogwarts the first time. I had no idea what to expect, the only things I knew about Hogwarts was what Hagrid told me."

"Were you scared?"

"No," he paused for a second. "I was terrified."

"Really," she stared at him with disbelief. "I didn't think you were scared of anything."

He laughed, "Trust me, I'm afraid of a lot of things."

Quietly, she continued, "I'm a little scared of going to Hogwarts. I know it's silly since Georgia will be there, tooand you and mum and everyone else went there." She started to absentmindedly stroke the cat lying next to her, "I'm worried I won't be as good as you were. I mean you're a legend and everyone will know I'm your daughter and they're going to expect a lot out of me. What if I let everyone down? And what if I don't make any friends other than Georgia? And what if I'm not put in Gryffindor? And you just came back, now I have to leave. I'm going to miss you."

"Oh, darling come here," he hugged his daughter tight. "You don't have to worry about all of that. You just have to try your best and be yourself. I'll be proud of you no matter what. And I know you will make a ton of friends, who would not want to be your friend. And do not worry about what house you'll be in, it does not matter to your mum or me."

She smiled at him and he had an idea, "Tell you what, why don't you take Hedwig with you to school and we can write to each other as much as you want."

"Thank you, dad," she grinned and squeezed him tight. "I would really like that."

Ginny called them in a few minutes later. They were meeting the rest of the family early the next morning to leave together and still had some packing to do.


	21. There's Something You Need to Know

Typically it was difficult and expensive to obtain an international portkey but the Weasley family and friends had connections with both the British and American magical governments so it was no problem for them. Bill Weasley was, of course, the British Minister of Magic and Daniel Montgomery, Lori's uncle, was the American Secretary of Magic. It was a large and noisy group that was leaving together that morning. Molly and Arthur had left earlier in the week to assist in the wedding preparations but the rest of the Weasleys along with several close friends were all arriving together. Harry briefly wondered if Lori's family, or America for the matter, would survive the invasion.

Harry and Ginny along with their kids were meeting Ron and Hermione and their family and they were all leaving together. When Harry and his family arrived, Hermione was trying very hard not to kill her twin daughters. From what Harry could figure out, they had gotten a hold of a Portable Swamp Kit from George's house and had set it off in the living room. Ron looked at Harry and Ginny with a look of relief when they walked in.

"Harry, Gin, help!" he pleaded. "Harry can you help me clean this up and Ginny will you help Mione get the kids to The Burrow to meet everyone else."

"Sure," Harry answered as he gaped at the living. "The twins?"

Ron nodded miserably.

"I'll just go find Hermione," Ginny said as she followed the sound of Hermione's screams. "Oh, and I'll try to make sure all of your kids stay alive."

"Thanks," Ron told his sister before turning back to the mess.

Harry quickly set to helping Ron clean the mess. Once the room was immaculate, Ron looked at Harry gratefully, "Thanks, mate. Do you want something to drink before we go?"

"Sure," Harry replied as he sank onto the sofa.

Ron quickly returned with two drinks. Harry noticed Ron was drinking pumpkin juice. Ron glanced at his watch, "I think we'll going to have to get another portkey. Everyone else should have already left. I owled Bill to get another one set up for us, he left it at The Burrow."

"Okay."

Neither man looked like he was in any hurry to leave. Ron looked everywhere but at Harry, "So, I guess Hermione told you what happened after you left." He nervously fidgeted.

"Yeah, she did," Harry glanced at his friend. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you guys. But it seems to me that you survived okay on your own."

"I wouldn't have without Hermione and my family. It not proud of what I did but it was so much to deal with and it was easier to drink away the pain."

"I can't say anything Ron. I ran away from the pain."

"But Harry, you did that for everyone else and we know that."

"Ron, before we get mushy let's just forget about it and realize that we both did what we had to do to survive and move on."

Ron looked appreciatively at Harry and grinned, "That's the best idea, I've heard in a long time."

The two men stood up and apparated to The Burrow and found the promised portkey. They each grabbed a hold and felt an intense pull behind their navel.

When Harry arrived in the large field behind Lori's parents' house, he was shocked to see some people he knew from the past ten years. Both of whom he had believed to be non-magical.

"Bob! Liz! What are you doing here?" he rushed over to a couple standing near the back of the group.

"Surprise," the blonde woman said with a shrug of her shoulders and a smirk. "I understand my secret is not so secret anymore."

"I don't know why I'm so surprised to see you," he said to the woman. "I found out about Megan and I guess I should not be too surprised that her sister would be a witch also."

"She is," the tall man next to her explained with an amused smile. "I'm not a wizard but I know all about it, including knowing that you are a wizard. Of course I did not find that out until after Liz and I were married. I guess I have you to thank for that, if Megan was not looking out for you, she never would have set me up with her sister."

Ginny walked over to Harry and he put an arm around her, "Ginny this is Bob and Liz Patterson. Bob was a co worker and my best friend in Cleveland." He started to look a little uncomfortable, "Liz is his wife and she's, um, Jason's mom's sister."

Liz took pity on him and extended a hand to Ginny, "I know this is a little awkward but welcome to America. I met your brother and parents earlier this week, I can't wait to meet everyone else, they've told us a lot of stories about the rest of the Weasley family."

Ginny gratefully shook Liz's hand, "Thank you. I hope they haven't embarrassed me too much."

Lori made her way over to the group, "Harry, I see you've already ran into Bob and Liz. I was going to tell you about Liz but in the excitement of the last couple of weeks, I forgot. I guess when I think about we didn't do a very good job of keeping you isolated from the magical world. But since Meg and Liz look so much alike it would be hard to explain why your wife and your best friend's wife looked like sisters without letting you know they were sisters." She laughed and the others joined her.

"That's okay," he reassured her. "I'm really not too surprised to be honest."

Jason ran over to them, "Hi, Aunt Liz and Uncle Bob! I didn't know you were going to be here. Did you know that I can do magic, I accidently sent a bunch of people to really cool places!" he grinned up at the adults.

"I know, Lori told us all about it."

Harry noticed an older couple watching them. He started to ask Liz who they were when she called them over, 'Mom, dad! I want to introduce you to some people."

They eagerly made their way over. Liz introduced them to everyone. After greeting Harry and Ginny, they stopped paying attention to anyone but their grandson. Harry smiled at his son who was loving all of the attention.

Lori quietly asked Harry if she could talk to him privately. He agreed and followed her to a spot near the house.

"Harry there is something you need to know about Megan and Liz's family. I didn't want you to find out accidently because I'm not sure how you are going to take it."

He looked at her with curiosity. What could there possibly be about the family he was watching gush over his son that would cause him to react unpredictably. They looked so wholesome. Jason's grandmother, Dorothy, was a plump woman who reminded him of Molly. And her husband, Julius, also reminded Harry of someone but he could not think of who. Liz he had known for almost ten years and trusted her completely.

Lori sighed before she continued, "Julius's brother is Lucius Malfoy."


	22. I Married A Malfoy

1What!" Harry bellowed loud enough to cause several heads to turn their way.

"Shh! Keep your voice down," Lori punched him in the arm. "Stop making a scene and I'll explain."

"Sorry," he rubbed his now sore arm. "I wasn't expecting that. They seem so nice." He opened his eyes wide, "I married a Malfoy," his voice was full of disbelief.

She rolled her eyes before continuing, "The American Malfoys are nothing like their British relatives. That's why Julius came to America, to escape his family. He was basically disowned for being the first Malfoy Gryffindor. I don't know too much about Hogwarts but apparently that's a big deal. The disowning became official when he married Dorothy. Her dad was non-magical so you can imagine how that went over with that family." Her voice told of her obvious dislike for the British branch of the Malfoy family tree. "Even though they had nothing to do with it, they felt horrible about what happened to Jason."

"Wait, this means my son is half Malfoy?" he stared at her for a moment then started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just imagining Draco's face if he knew my son was a cousin of his. Since Liz and Bob don't have any kids and as far as I know, Draco doesn't have any children, I guess that means Jason is his heir! I find that very ironic. Although from what I saw at the old Malfoy Manor, I think all he'll inherit will be a bunch debt. I wonder if Draco or Lucius know?"

"I don't know. Uncle Julius is not on good terms with them so I'm sure he didn't tell them but they always seem to have ways of knowing things."

"Uncle?"

"Yeah, Dorothy is my mom's sister."

Harry looked up and saw Julius making his way over to them. When he reached them, he spoke to Harry; "I feel I must apologize for my family. I know they tried to make your life miserable when you were younger." He looked over to where Jason was running after Simon and Adam, "When I found out my nephew had put Jason in danger and caused harm to Lori, I could have killed him without my wand. But Dorothy talked me out of stooping to their level." The older man rubbed his hand over his eyes, "I still can not believe Draco became what he did. The last time I saw him, he couldn't have been more than two and he was such a sweet little boy." A hard glint came into his gray eyes and for a split second Harry saw the family resemblance, "I blame his father for what Draco became. I'm not trying to make excuses for him but he had a very difficult upbringing."

Harry shook the older man's hand, "Trust me, I don't blame you for your family's actions. We don't get to choose who our families are. If we did, trust me, I never would have picked the Dursleys!" he laughed.  
Julius gratefully shook Harry's hand and the twinkle returned to his eyes, "Why don't we go join everyone else? I understand Lori's mom and Molly have prepared a delicious lunch for everyone."

The three of them walked over to join everyone else. Harry laughed when he saw Ron and Ryan were once again arguing over whether American or British Quidditch was better. Julius went to join Arthur who he explained had been a classmate of his at Hogwarts.

Fred came over, "Hi Harry, do you mind if I steal my woman from you?" He put an arm around her shoulders, "I think Ginny was looking for you," he informed Harry.

He found Ginny and strolled over to her, "Hey, did you get Hermione calmed down?"

"Yes, but I still suggested to Dannie and Carrie that they might want to stay out of her way for a while," she laughed. "Did you guys get everything cleaned up?"

"Yep, better than ever."

"What did Lori want to talk to you about?"

He pulled her over to a bench and sat down with her, "You won't believe what I found out about Meg's family."

Ginny reacted in much the same way Harry did. Neither of them could believe how different Julius was from his brother. Like Lucius, he carried himself with pride but he had warmth to him that showed in his smile and the sparkle in his eyes.

The aroma of food quickly drew everyone to where several tables were set up in the middle of the rolling, green lawn. Harry and Ginny settled themselves at a table with Ron and Hermione and two of Lori's brothers and their wives. After stuffing himself and gawking at the fact that Ron was on his fourth plate of food, Harry got up and went to find Jason. He had a few errands to take care of and thought Jason would enjoy going with him.

Since Lori's parents lived near where Harry and Jason had lived she let him borrow her car. On the way to their house, Harry noticed Jason was being unusually quiet.

"What's wrong, buddy?" he gently inquired.

Jason shrugged as he continued to stare out the window.

"Are you worried about moving? You know you can come back to visit Liz and Bob."

"Really?" he looked over at his dad.

"Of course, I think they would be pretty mad at me if I didn't let their favorite nephew come visit. And I bet Dorothy and Julius would like you to visit them sometimes." He reached over and ruffled his son's hair, "You understood what Liz was telling you about them being your mom's parents, right?"

"Yeah, they're my grandma and grandpa," he bit his lip as he pondered this. "But Jamie's grandma said I could call them Grandma and Grandpa, so is that okay?"

"Absolutely, you are very lucky to have two grandmas and two grandpas." He glanced over at his son and realized the boy still seemed a little preoccupied. "Is anything else bothering you?"

"Can Paddy come with us? I would really miss him if he didn't live with me."

Harry mentally slapped himself in the forehead for not thinking of that sooner, "Of course, he's coming with us. Let's go pick him up right now."

Jason beamed and reverted back to his usual chatter as they continued on to their destination. They pulled into the parking lot and in just a few minutes made their way back to the car. Joining them was a very excited, shaggy black dog. 

They spent the afternoon packing boxes at their house in preparation for the permanent move to England. Later in the day, Ginny and Jamie joined them along with Ron's family. Lori had escorted them there because they were all staying there until after the wedding.

Paddy bounded to the door when the newcomers entered. His appearance took the British adults in the group by surprise.

Ron pushed the excited dog off of him, "He looks just like Padfoot!"

"How do you know his name?" Jason asked as he pulled the dog back. "We call him Paddy though because we got him when I was little and I couldn't say Padfoot."

Harry joined them and directed everyone to the living room. Jason and the twins began wrestling with the hyperactive canine. Someone in the group hit the end table and broke the lamp sitting on it, "Jason Ronald Potter, take him outside," Harry yelled over the excited barks and squeals.

When Jason did not give any indication of having heard his father, Harry yanked him up by the arm. "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you."

Jason looked up with a hurt look, "But I didn't think you were talking to me. You said Jason Ronald Potter and I'm Jason Ronald Palmer."

Everyone laughed at Jason's comment. "He is right you know," Lori piped in.

"We'll discuss your name later but right now, take the dog outside," an exasperated Harry commanded his son.  
Once it was quiet enough to hear each other, Ginny addressed Harry, "You named your dog after Sirius "

Ron spoke at the same time as his sister, "His middle name is Ronald?"

He smiled wistfully, "I guess some memories are harder to get rid of than others."


	23. He's Asking For You

For the next two days, the matriarchs of both the Weasley and Montgomery families kept their families busy with wedding preparations. There was a lot of work of work to be completed after all this was to be the magical social event of the year on both sides of the Atlantic. It was not every day that the brother of the British Minister of Magic married the niece of the American Secretary of Magic. Harry smirked as he thought to himself of the wizards who would not have given the Weasleys the time of day ten years ago were now hoping for an invite to Fred's wedding. Unfortunately, for those people Molly was one who could hold a grudge for a very long time.

On the morning of the wedding Harry woke up early and peeked out the window. He was relieved to see the sun was shining, it had rained for the last two days and everyone had been worried about the weather. But he thought with a laugh Molly Weasley and Katherine Montgomery would not stand for it to rain on the day of their children's wedding and apparently whomever was in charge of weather knew this.

The house was quiet as he made his way across the hall to the bathroom. Ginny and Ron had both already left because they were both attendants in the wedding and had to get ready early and have pictures taken. When Harry sat down with a cup of coffee a few minutes later he was relieved that today he was just a guest. Hermione joined him a few moments later and he handed her part of the morning paper, The Oracle. They quietly sipped their morning drinks and read the paper for a short time. Their quiet ended when Jason, Dannie, and Carrie came running down the stairs and woke up Mathew.

Hermione started to get up to go get Mathew up but Harry stopped her and said he would do it. It had been a while since Jason had been a baby but Harry was pretty sure he would remember what to do. After all he had been a single parent from the time Jason was fourteen months old. He walked into the guestroom where Ron and Hermione along with Matthew had been sleeping. Matthew quieted when he saw Harry, the baby looked at him wearily for several seconds before reaching his arms up.

Harry reached down and picked the little guy up. He cooed to him as he got Matthew ready for the day. They were making their way back to the kitchen where Hermione was feeding the rest of the kids breakfast as Harry realized how much he missed having a small child. He decided he would talk to Ginny about having another. He had missed so much of Jamie's younger years and with Jason he had been struggling to be both parents that he did not enjoy it as much as he should of. Matthew pulled him from his serious thoughts by reaching over with his pudgy hands and trying to steal Harry's glasses.

"Hey," Harry evaded the baby's attempts with a laugh. "I need those, mister."

Harry sat down with Matthew in his lap. Hermione offered to take him and feed him but Harry replied that he did not mind doing it. After breakfast, Harry went out to the back yard with Jason, Dannie, Carrie, and Georgia. Jason was teaching the other kids how to play football. Jamie and Josie were not as athletic as the other children and stayed on the patio with Hermione and Matthew.

After a few hours, Hermione called to them that it was time to get ready to leave for the wedding and they trooped in to the house. Harry finally gave up on taming his hair and went to check on Jason. He grinned when he saw his son for the first time in wizarding clothes. Ginny had bought him a set of dress robes before they had left. Father and son were dressed in identical deep emerald robes.

"Hey bud," he spoke from the doorway of Jason's bedroom. "You ready?"

Jason looked over from where he was standing, "Yep."

Harry walked over to him and tried to flatten his son's hair. He quickly realized that his son had inherited the Potter hair and gave up. The walked downstairs together and Harry was surprised to see everyone else waiting for them. Hermione quickly instructed everyone to gather around the portkey that would take them to the site of the wedding.

When they arrived everyone gasped at the beauty of the site. Real fairy lights lit the trees that lined the walkway leading to the ceremony site. Gentle music surrounded them. The scent of flowers in the gentle breeze surrounded them.

Harry sat between Hermione and Jason with Jamie on the other side of Jason. The ceremony was short but beautiful. At one point Harry handed Hermione a handkerchief when he heard her soft sniffle. She thanked him with a soft smile. After the ceremony their group joined the rest of the guests in the tents set up on the sloping lawn.

Ginny and Ron joined them shortly after they had sat down at a large round table. Lori and Fred's arrival was applauded and once they were seated at the head table, plates filled with delicious food appeared in front of everyone. Once all in attendance were thoroughly satisfied George stood up and waited to get everyone's attention. He surprised everyone by giving a very touching speech that ended with Fred pulling him into a backslapping hug.

Harry was surprised at how well behaved George was being. However, when Fred and Lori went to cut the cake he noticed that both Ron and George seemed a bit too excited about it. Once the bride and groom started to cut the first slice he discovered why that was. As soon as the knife touched the cake, bits of cake and icing were shot six feet into the air as the cake exploded. For several seconds everyone stared speechlessly at the butter cream-covered couple, finally Lori began to laugh and was joined by everyone. Even Molly had a good chuckle after scolding both George and Ron and performing a quick spell to clean the icing off of Fred and Lori.

Once the laughter died down and the icing was cleared away, the newly married pair shared their first dance as a married couple. Soon other couples trickled on to the dance floor and joined them. Harry stood up and offered his arm to Jamie. She giggled and took her father's arm as he led her to the dance floor. Harry smiled as he noticed Jason mimic him and ask Ginny to dance with him. When the song ended, Harry made his way to Ginny and took her in his arms. Jason ran off to join some of the other kids and Jamie asked her Grandpa to dance with her. Harry managed to snatch Lori for a quick dance before she and Fred left for their honeymoon. After that he found himself dancing with Molly and most of his sisters in law.

Only family remained when finally he managed to escape the dance floor and sat back down at his table. He was sitting there for only a few seconds when he suddenly had a feeling that something was not right. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. His Auror instincts kicked in. He quickly stood up and scanned the room for trouble. Not seeing anything immediately, he performed a quick head count to ensure that everyone was still safely in the room.

During his scan of the room, he noticed a few other people also surveying the room. He caught his former Auror partner, Tonk's, eye and she excused herself from Remus and made her way to him. On her way she picked up Alan and Erik Montgomery, Lori's brothers who were American Aurors. They joined Harry and quietly exited the tent so as not to worry anyone else.

Once outside they walked a short ways down the lawn. When they stopped Harry looked at the group gathered around him, "Do you guys feel like something's not right?"

"Yeah," Alan answered him. "But I did not see anything out of the ordinary."

"Me either," Erik replied.

"I think we need to check outside," Tonks suggested.

Before anyone could answer her, raised voices were heard from the tent. They raced back to the entrance. Just before they entered the tent a loud crash was heard which quickened their pace. When they stepped through the doorway the sight that greeted them caused Tonks to gasp and grab Harry's arm. Behind him, Alan and Erik cursed loudly. Harry looked around the room with terror and confusion in his emerald eyes.

Chaos reigned in the room as the Aurors reentered. Tonks rushed to her husband's side. Remus was bleeding profusely from a head wound and was cradling the still body of their son.Alan and Erik both ran to where their father was trying to comfort a hysterical Liz. They were both kneeling by Bob's lifeless body.

Harry frantically searched the room for his family. His eyes locked with Ron's. There were tears streaming down Ron's face as he embraced the limp body of Hermione. Fleur had an arm around each of Ron's twin daughters and was trying to comfort them. Her daughter, Zoe, was holding a crying Matthew. Most of the other children were sitting in the middle of the dance floor with Lori's mother and aunt trying to keep them calm. Their sobs filled the room.

Katie was desperately trying to pry Ron away. "Ron, I need to help her," the Healer gently but firmly told her brother in law.

Harry dashed towards them. On his way, he passed a distraught Georgia sitting on the floor. He knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her. The young girl clung to him as she started to weep. Arthur was near them and was trying in vain to staunch the blood seeping through Molly's robes.

As he scanned the room in an attempt to determine what had occurred, he paused and watched the action in the middle of the room. Bill, Julius, and George were frantically trying to treat someone's wounds. It was a moment before Harry realized with shock who the man was. His usually immaculate hair was stringy and unkempt, his robes were tattered and torn. The wounded man was none other than Draco Malfoy.

George glanced up and saw Harry watching them. He slowly rose to his feet and trudged to where Harry was seated and joined him on the floor.

"What happened?" he inquired desperately over Georgia's head. He continued to scan the room and fearfully noticed more wounded. Those who were not injured were attempting to aid those who were and to comfort each other. "What did he do?" Harry glared at Draco as he asked this.

George raked a hand through his hair, "It wasn't Draco, it was his father."

"What happened?" he repeated.

"It was horrible." George sighed and his shoulders sagged. "Lucius appeared along with several Death Eaters. It was absolute pandemonium; they were recklessly throwing spells until Draco showed up and tried to stop him. Lucius tried to kill him with an unforgivable curse but the spell hit the chandelier and split. Hermione tried to shove Draco out of the way and they were each hit with half of the curse. Julius stepped in and tried to restrain Lucius but he and the Death Eaters left in a cloud of smoke." He looked around the room and rubbed his hands over his eyes.

Harry frantically looked around the room for Ginny and his kids. When he saw no sight of them he addressed George, "Where is Ginny? Is she okay? And Jamie and Jason where are they?"

George too scanned the room for any sign of his sister or either of Harry's kids. "I don't know."

George took Georgia from Harry and held her close. Harry stood up and searched the room for his family. His terror level rose, as he saw no sign of any of them. He was starting to panic when the sound of several 'cracks' near the doorway captured his attention. With relief he noted the arrival of Dumbledore. Joining them were several other wizards and witches, some of whom Harry recognized and was comforted by seeing. The others he assumed were Americans and would be just as helpful.

Several Healers were in the newly arrived group. They quickly treated those they could and transported those too critically wounded to be treated on site to Apollo Medical Center, which was the regional magical hospital. Harry was disheartened to see that Hermione and Molly along with Draco were among those transported to the hospital.

Harry glanced at Bill Weasley, Daniel Montgomery, and Professors Dumbledore attempting to figure out what happened and what to do now. Instead of joining them, he walked to his oldest friend and put an arm around his shoulder. Ron looked at Harry with eyes brimming with tears.

"Harry, what will I do if Hermione doesn't survive," his voice cracked with emotion as he voiced his worst fear. "And mum, what will happen to our family if she's gone?"

Harry looked at his friend miserably. He did not have an answer for him. Ron searched the room with his sapphire eyes.

"Where's Ginny?" he asked terrified. The look in his eyes changed from grief to anger as he realized that three of the most important people in his life, his mum, wife, and sister, were all either missing or gravely injured.

Before Harry could reply, Bill came over to let them know that they were going to the hospital to make a plan of action. That way they could be close if anything changed in the status of the victims' condition. Zoe quietly joined her dad and handed Matthew to Ron. Quickly Ron's other children joined them as someone handed Harry a portkey that would take them all to the hospital.

When they arrived, Ron hurried off to check on the condition of his wife. Charlie was waiting for Harry and stood up when he saw him arrive.

"Harry," he called to him. "Draco is awake and he's asking for you. He's really weak and won't say anything except ask for you."

Charlie put a hand on Harry's arm and led the confused younger man down the hall to a private room. He left him at the doorway and Harry walked into the room. He noticed Dumbledore sitting at Draco's bedside. The elderly man looked up as Harry entered.

Dumbledore stood up and spoke gently to Draco, "Harry's here," he stated simply to the pale man.

"Potter," Draco croaked in a hoarse whisper.

Harry moved closer in order to hear his former enemy. Draco's silver eyes were filled with terror.

"Malfoy," Harry spoke quietly as walked to the bedside. "What happened?"

"No time to explain," he answered with difficulty. "Save Jason." He paused as a coughing fit hit him. Harry was alarmed to notice a bit of blood trickle out with the cough. "He took your family, help them." He appeared to be struggling to breathe but reached a hand out to grab Harry's sleeve. "Promise me."

"I promise," Harry swore. "Do you know where he took them?"

His question was not answered due to the fact that the previous conversation had exhausted the weakened Draco and he had slipped back into unconsciousness.

Harry looked at Dumbledore with confusion and dismay, "What are we going to do?" His eyes shone with trepidation, "I can't lose them. I can't." he spoke quietly but forcefully.

"You're not going to," the wise wizard paused to look down at the complex man lying in the bed. "Draco muttered a few things in his sleep that may help us find his father." He put a hand on Harry's shoulder, "Come, let's join the others and get your family back."


	24. You Lose

Harry stumbled slightly as he tried to keep up with Dumbledore's quick pace down the hallway. The older man stopped at a room at the end of the hall and waited for Harry to join him before he entered. Dumbledore proceeded to join Daniel and Bill at the head of the large conference table. Harry took a seat between George and Charlie Weasley.

"How's Hermione and your mum?" he questioned George.

A look of mingled grief, relief, and fear flashed across his freckled face, "Hermione is stable, she woke up for a while and saw Ron and the kids but she is sleeping again. Mum," he stopped to gain control of his emotions, "mum hasn't woken up yet, Katie and Dad are with her. They said there nothing we can do but wait."

Harry did not know what to say so he gazed around the room instead. He noticed Julius had joined the group at the head of the table and was scribbling something on a piece of parchment while the other three stared intently at what he was putting on the paper.

Several more people entered the room and either found seats around the table or spots to lean against the wall. Harry was relieved when he saw Remus take a seat near the door, he was a bit pale but other than that seemed to have been healed. Tonks sat next to him and kept giving her husband nervous glances.

After a few more minutes, Dumbledore addressed those gathered in the room, "Julius has given us some information regarding where Lucius may have taken Ginny and the children. However before we begin a rescue mission we need to find out all we can as quickly as possible. I do not want anyone going into anything unprepared. I think we all agree that one death is enough tonight."

His last statement caused Harry to feel a pang in his chest. Bob had been his closest friend besides Lori during the ten years he had been in the States. Harry realized that he was the only person who had befriended him without thinking of his as 'the boy who lived." Even Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had had preconceived ideas about him when they met. But not Bob. Harry dropped his head onto the table as he realized that he would never see his friend again. He thought to himself that no one else could understand what he was going through.

When he sat up he was surprised to see Ron standing silently in the doorway. Harry saw that the group at the front of the room was once again speaking to each other in low tones so he rose from his chair. He made his way to Ron and gently pulled him to the hallway. Ron leaned against the wall and pushed his hands through his hair.

"How is she?" Harry gently inquired.

Ron sighed and looked down the hall, "The Healers say that Hermione is going to be okay." He paused and Harry knew there was something more. Ron confirmed that thought when he looked at Harry fearfully, "But she's pregnant and they don't know if the baby will survive."

"Oh, Ron, I'm so sorry," Harry said helplessly. "I didn't know she was pregnant."

Ron slid down the wall and sat with his head resting against the wall, "Neither did I. I don't even think she knew."

Harry joined his friend on the floor and silently pulled him into a comforting hug. For several minutes the two sat silently on the cold hospital floor. Ron was the first to stand up, he brushed the tears from his cheeks as he asked Harry, "Do you know anything else about Ginny and the kids?"

Harry miserably shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet.

George came hurrying out the door that Harry had just exited. Harry started to ask him what was wrong when he realized whom George was hurrying to. At the other end of the corridor, Fred and Lori came rushing around the corner.

Fred met his twin in the middle of the hall, "What's going on George? We were walking on the beach when I felt something was wrong where you were."

George started to explain to a horrified Fred and Lori what had occurred. Ron and Harry reentered the conference room and discovered that a plan had been made. Julius had informed everyone of an island that his and Lucius's family owned that was not too far from where they were. It had been in disuse since their childhood and Julius thought Lucius would assume that he had forgotten about it. The island was unplottable and only someone who already knew its whereabouts would be able to find it.

Harry hurried to join those who were gathered in the far corner of the room and would be embarking on the mission. Ron hovered uncertainly in the doorway. His emotions played across his expressive face as he struggled with a desire to aid in rescuing his sister, niece, and nephew, and wanting to be near Hermione in her time of need.

Katie entered the room and helped Ron make his decision when she said, "Ron, Hermione says that you need to go with Harry so you can keep each other safe." She looked at Harry to include him in the rest of her statement, "And if anything happens to one of you, she will personally kill the other."

Harry gulped, "Ron, your wife scares me," he laughed.

Ron grinned as he joined the group, "That's why I love her."

Julius quickly told everyone where they were headed and the group apparated as one. They appeared on a rocky beach at the bottom of a massive cliff. The group silently followed Julius up a steep pathway that led to an imposing stone house. He halted them at the top of the path to instruct everyone as to their assignments. He made a striking figure as the wind whipped his dark robes around his tall frame. Harry briefly thought to himself that he was glad Julius was on their side, he did not appear to be someone Harry would want to fight.

Julius motioned for Harry and Ron to join him and a few others. They made their way to the front doors. The huge door creaked ominously as Julius pushed it open.

1The group split after they entered the grand atrium of the home. Julius led Harry, Ron, and Fred to a door on the right of the entrance. As they silently went through the door and down the stairs, Harry looked up and watched the rest of their group, Remus, Charlie, Bill, and Tonks climb the palatial main staircase. With them they carried the map of the estate that Julius had drawn up for them before they had left. Several other groups of their cohorts were stationed around the outside perimeter of the home.

Harry was at the rear of the group descending the wooden stairs to the damp cellar. Julius had informed them of a series of tunnels that ran under that house. He had reason to believe that Lucius would imprison his hostages there.

The group was silent as they hurried through the winding, underground corridors. Despite their quick pace, the men carefully kept an eye out for any sign of Ginny and the kids or Lucius and any of his Death Eaters. At the end of the path, they had to decide between going right or left. Julius indicated that he and Fred would take the right and Harry and Ron were to go to the left.

Harry quickened his pace when he heard a noise that sounded like a whimper coming from farther down the hall. Ron was close on his heels as the two men began to sprint. The whimpers increased in volume as they stopped in front of a wooden door. Ron reached out a hand to open it but found it locked. He pulled out his wand and muttered a quick unlocking spell. The spell did not work. Ron looked at Harry with frustration. Harry decided to forgo magic and instead kicked the door open.

Ron stared at him open mouthed, "How did you learn how to do that?"

Harry shrugged, "I spent ten years working as a police officer. It was a skill that came in handy every once in a while."

Ron continued to look at him with awe, "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Don't worry, Hermione will protect you."

Another whimper got their attention. They scanned the dark room with their eyes. Ron was the first to spot Jamie huddled in the far corner.

"Jamie!" he cried as he dashed to his niece.

Harry saw his daughter and rushed ahead of Ron. He knelt before Jamie and embraced her. Her whimpers turned to sobs that caused her slender body to shake when his strong arms enveloped her. She was too hysterical to tell him what had happened so he gently picked her up and followed Ron out the door. When they reached the place where the hallways intersected, they met up with Fred who was running full speed toward them.

"Harry, Ron," he gasped as he bent over and held his side. "Quick, we found Ginny, she's alive but hurt, we need to get her out of here."

Harry handed Jamie to Ron and tore down the hallway in the direction that Fred had just come from. He skidded to a halt when he came to where Julius was gently cradling Ginny. It was with relief that he saw her look at him and smile weakly.

"Harry," she hoarsely whispered.

He walked to them and Julius carefully transferred her wounded body to Harry.

"Oh, Ginny," Harry carefully brushed her hair off of her face.

"Jamie? Jason?" she struggled to say.

"Jamie's okay. She's with Ron and Fred."

She tried to sit up, "Jason?" she looked up at Harry with fearful tears swimming in her deep eyes.

"Shh, calm down," he tried to reassure her. "We're going to find him but first we need to get you help."

Fred quietly entered the room from behind Harry, "Ron took Jamie back to the hospital to have her checked out." He knelt down beside his sister, "Come on, Gin. Let's get you taken care of." He gently reached for her and stood up with her in his arms. His face paled slightly when she softly groaned with pain. Since it was not possible to apparate in or out of the house, he carefully carried her out the door to head back to the beach in order to transport her to the medical center.

Once they had left, Harry and Julius headed back up the stairs to continue the search for Jason. They heard shouts coming from up the main staircase and sprinted up the stairs. When they reached the room where the battle was raging, Harry was terrified to see Lucius Malfoy holding Jason in front of him. The blond man was using the young boy as a human shield. Jason was screaming and attempting to kick Lucius in the groin. Remus, Charlie, Bill, and Tonks were all battling at least three Death Eaters apiece.

"Lucius, let the boy go. I don't know what crazy game your playing but it's over and you lose," Julius calmly spoke as he entered the room.

"Oh, really. It appears I am winning," he smirked as Remus was taken down by several curses. Harry watched with horror as Remus collapsed and his head hit the wood floor with a sickening thud.

Harry swiftly shot out a few curses and was able to subdue two of the Death Eaters who had attacked Remus. A brief look of fear crossed Lucius's face as the doorway filled with the others who had joined in the rescue mission. With the reinforcements it did not take long to outfight the Death Eaters. Jason finally connected with his foot and a surprised Lucius let go of him. The young boy ran to his father as Julius approached his brother.

The room became deathly silent as everyone waited for the confrontation. The two brothers stared at each other for a moment before Lucius raised his wand, "AVAD…"

He was not able to finish the curse because someone else was quicker than he was. The deadly green curse flew through the air, a split second before it hit Malfoy in the chest, a cloud of smoke erupted around him. When the smoke cleared, his body was gone. Everyone turned to see who had sent the curse. Several gasps were heard when they saw who was standing in the doorway. His hair was longer and shaggier than any had ever seen it but it was clear who it was.


	25. The Other Weasley

1"Percy!" Bill stared at his younger brother with a stunned look on his face. Along with Charlie, he cautiously approached the haggard looking man. Percy was still standing in the doorway. His wand was held limply at his side and he was glaring at the dead body of Lucius Malfoy. His face was covered with stubble. It appeared that he was in shock.

Percy came out of his shock when Bill and Charlie reached him. He grasped both of his brothers and began to weep. 

"I'm so sorry," he repeatedly stated through his tears. "I was wrong. I'm sorry. Please, forgive me," he begged his older brothers.

The two oldest Weasley brothers calmed him down enough to lead him out the door. Harry assumed they were heading back down to the beach to take him back to the hospital with them. 

Harry noticed that Jason was shaking slightly next to him. He wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders and led him to where Tonks was tending to a still unconscious Remus.

"How is he?" Harry questioned as he solemnly looked down at the unmoving body.

"I don't know," she honestly replied. "It's only days before a full moon and he took several strong stunners to the chest."

Harry conjured up a stretcher for Lupin. Together with Tonks, he placed Remus on it. Tonks levitated the stretcher in front of her and followed the path the Weasleys had just taken.

He and Jason started to follow her when he noticed Julius staring at the spot where his brother's body had been. Walking to him and placing an arm on the older man's shoulder he quietly spoke, "Julius, are you alright?"

"Yeah," he murmured in reply. "I was just thinking about when Lucius and I were kids and would come here. We were actually friends until we both started at Hogwarts. I don't understand how he became what he did." He rubbed a hand over his eyes and then looked down at Jason, "How are you, kid?"

"O-Okay," he stammered.

Julius smiled slightly at his grandson and put his hand on the boy's back. He silently led Jason and Harry to the door. At the doorway, he gave the room a final look and proceeded to the front door.

When they arrived back at the hospital, the first sight Harry saw was Arthur embracing his newly returned son. Tears were running unchecked down the overjoyed man's face. Harry laughed when he walked past Ron and heard him mumble to no one in particular, "Is anyone really dead? First Harry shows up, and then Lucius and now Percy." Ron scratched his head as he thought about this and watched his father and brother.

Harry found Katie and had her take a look at Jason. She told a relieved Harry that Jason was just exhausted and scared. She gave Jason a sleeping draught and he was soon sleeping peacefully in the double room he was sharing with Lupin. Harry pulled the curtain around the boy's bed and checked on Remus.

Remus had still not awakened but some color had returned to his face. Tonks was curled up in the chair next to his bed and Michael had fallen asleep pressed against his father. She glanced up and smiled slightly at Harry when he stopped by the bed. The Healer in charge of his care stopped in to check on him. She assured Tonks and Harry that Remus was going to be fine. Harry peeked in on Jason a final time before heading to check on everyone else.

His first stop was Ginny's room. He found her sleeping with Jamie curled up next to her. For several minutes he stood and watched the two of them rest. After convincing himself that they were fine, he stopped in to check on Hermione.

She was the first person he checked on who was awake. When he knocked quietly on her door, she called out softly, "Come in."

He grinned to see her looking as good as new, "Hey, sweetie," he walked over and kissed the top of her head. "How are you feeling?" he stared at her with concern in his eyes.

"I'm okay. How's everyone else?"

He told her about those he had checked on. He hesitated before asking his next question, "How is, I mean, Ron told me about," he stumbled over his words.

Hermione reached over and placed a hand on Harry's arm, "The baby is going to be fine. I just have to be careful not to have any undue stress."

"Oh, great," he beamed at his friend. "Promise me, you'll listen to the advice about no extra stress." He looked at her with a very stern look.

"Yes, father," she teasingly answered. She gave a huge yawn. Harry stood up and after giving her another brotherly kiss on the forehead he left to check on Molly.

He found all of the Weasley boys and Arthur gathered around Molly's bed. Quietly, he made to slip away unnoticed. He did not want to intrude on the family.

However, Arthur saw him and called out, "Harry, please stay. We've thought of you as a son for a long time and you belong here with us."

Harry came further into the room and stood between Ron and Fred with his hands shoved in his pockets. He watched with the rest of those gathered as Percy sat by his mother's side and stroked her hand. Harry felt a pang in his chest as he listened to Percy beg his mother to wake up and forgive him. When he could not emotionally handle watching the mother and son any longer, Harry glanced at the others. Ron and George were both blinking quickly to prevent their tears from slipping out. Fred's jaw muscles were clenched tight. From the other side of the bed, Charlie was sniffling and Bill kept wiping his hands over his eyes. Arthur simply sat and held Molly's other hand. They all repeatedly glanced towards Percy. Harry knew there were a lot of questions to be asked of Percy.

But something even more important captured the occupants of the rooms' attention. Percy had laid his head down next to his mother's hand. Slowly she opened her eyes and began to stroke his hair.

He raised his head and looked at his mother as she spoke to him, "Of course I forgive you. You are my son and I love you."

She softly assured him that she loved him repeatedly. After a few moments, he sat back and let the rest of the family speak to Molly.

They all told Molly they loved her. Her sons and Harry left the room so she could rest. Arthur settled into the chair next to her bed. Harry followed Ron out the door and headed to the waiting room to settle in for the night. He noticed Percy was trudging slowly down the hall in front of them. He started to speak to him but Ron was quicker.

"Perce," Ron caught up with his brother.

Percy turned to Ron and looked at him apprehensively. Ron and Percy had never had a great relationship and Percy looked as though he was afraid his younger brother would lash out at him. But to Percy's surprise, Ron simply reached out his hand to shake Percy's. They shook hands and looked at each other solemnly. Finally, Ron pulled him into a hug. Harry quietly moved past them and joined the others in the waiting room. 

Harry took a seat across from the twins and leaned his head on the back of the chair. A few minutes later, Ron entered and sat next to Harry.

"Where's Percy?" Charlie asked.

"He went to take a shower and get cleaned up a bit. He said he'll join us when he is done."

"Good," Fred said. "I didn't want to say anything but he stunk."

They all laughed at Fred's comment. For a while they all sat silently, each man lost in his own thoughts. Percy hesitantly came in the room a few minutes later looking more like the old Percy. He quietly took a seat slightly apart from where the rest of the family was gathered.

Bill was the one to voice the questions that everyone wanted to ask, "Percy," the weary man looked up at his eldest brother when he heard his name. "Where have you been? What happened?"

1It appeared that Percy was not going to answer the questions as he stared out the window opposite him for several moments. Finally, he began to speak in a quiet voice. The others had to lean forward and strain to hear him.

Still not looking at anyone, he began to tell his tale, "I suppose you could say it all started with me and my stupid pride. I just could not admit I was wrong and all of you were right. When the time came when it was impossible for me to keep up the act I knew I had to make a choice, come crawling back to you or leave. Despite what any of you may of thought, I would never join the Dark side willingly. Obviously, I chose to leave. I'm sure you remember the chaos after the battle in Diagon Alley, I thought it was the perfect cover for my disappearance. I made sure you," he looked at Fred, "saw me during the fighting and then I slipped away. I knew there would be a lot of casualties and I would be presumed dead."

"Where did you go?" George softly asked when Percy paused.

"I looked up the only other person I could think of who would understand being 'The Other Weasley'," he held his hand up to stop Charlie who was starting to tell Percy he was not 'The Other Weasley.' "We all know I was never as brave or strong as the rest of you and never quite fit in. I went to dad's second cousin, Andrew."

"The squib?" Ron asked at the same time that Bill asked, "The accountant?"

"Yeah, he was a little bitter about the way the family had treated him so he helped me set up a life as a Muggle. I stayed with him until he died then I moved around a lot for several years. I kept up with the news of the magical world so I heard about Harry's victory and 'death'. You can imagine my shock when I saw him about a year ago. As luck would have it, I had moved in down the street from him and his son. After doing a little investigating I figured out what had happened. Around the same time I was snooping around Harry's life someone else was as well."

He stopped and took a deep breath, "I was spotted by several Death Eaters who were looking for Harry. They took me by surprise and knocked me out. I woke up in the house where you found me tonight. Lucius Malfoy was there and he had this crazy plan to become the next Dark Lord. He made me do some horrible things that I'll never forgive myself for or be able to forget. He threatened to kill my family if I did not obey. I knew he was crazy enough to follow through on his threats." He started to shake slightly. Fred and George stood up as one and sat on either side of him to show their support as he finished his story. "I fought back when they started making plans to kill Harry and take his son. Lucius kept saying that the boy belonged with his true family. When I started to refuse to do his dirty work, he imprisoned me in the cellar of the house. I think he only kept me alive in hopes of using me to lure my family to him. I was shocked to discover that there was already a prisoner being held. I joined Draco Malfoy. He was in bad shape. His father would torture him and rant about how Draco was a disgrace to their family name and he was ashamed to call him son."

"What was Draco doing there?"

"That's his story to tell. But be kind to him, he's been through too much already. He's different now." He paused to gather himself together to complete the tale, "We learned that Lucius was planning an attack on Fred's wedding. He wanted to get Jason and to kill everyone else. We could not let that happen. No one else knew that Draco was an animagi. When they left, we were unguarded and Draco slipped out in his animal form. He found our wands and after giving me mine, he rushed to stop his father. I was preparing to join him when Lucius and some of his goons returned with Ginny, Jason, and Jamie. I managed to hide and followed them. Lucius took Jason with him and the others took Ginny and Jamie down to the cellar. I could hear them attacking Ginny and I had to save her. I caused a distraction and the two men left her. I quickly hid Jamie and returned to help Gin but Fred and another man had arrived while I was gone. I knew Fred would take care of her so I went in search of Lucius and Jason. I found them just after Harry did, I could not let Lucius continue to terrorize or to gain any more followers so I did the only thing I could. I killed him. And I'm not sorry about that, he deserved to die and the world is better without him in it." By the time he finished, his hands were balled into fists and he was breathing heavy.

They sat speechless for a while. George was the one to break the silence, "So, Percy, you say Draco's an animagi. Is he by any chance a ferret?"

Percy looked at him for a second before he began to laugh heartily. He was finally able to gasp out a yes. After the day's turn of events they all needed a release for their emotions and everyone in the room joined in the laughter. Ron laughed so hard he snorted which caused George to fall out of his chair. Soon, they were all holding their sides and gasping for air. They sat in a pleasant silence until Charlie yawned loudly and they all realized how tired they were. They each conjured up bedding for themselves and settled in for the night.

Harry woke up a few hours later and noticed that it was only the almost full moon that lit the room. He stared at the silvery orb and wondered what would happen if Remus did not wake up before the full moon or was still in a weakened state at that time. His thoughts caused him to decide to check on Lupin's condition. He would also be able to see how Jason was and stop to peek in on Ginny and Jamie. 

Quietly he stepped out to the hallway. He was startled when two men came running very excitedly down the hall and nearly knocked him over. Quickly he stepped out of the way.

"Excuse us, Harry," one of them hollered over his shoulder and gave him a huge smile.

"No problem," Harry laughed. He wondered why his old friend Neville Longbottom was in such a hurry and what was he in such a good mood about. He followed behind them at a much slower pace.

Harry was surprised to see Neville and the other person, a short balding man, run into Remus' and Jason's room. When he passed through the doorway he stopped at Jason's bed. The boy was sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes. Harry handed his son his glasses. Jason was like his dad in that he could not see much without the aid of his glasses.

Jason gratefully slipped them on, "Thanks, dad. What're they doing?" He watched with curiosity as Neville and the other man joined several Healers gathered around Lupin's bed. Harry sat down on Jason's bed and joined him in observing what was going on.

Neville was so excited he was bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. His companion was beaming. Both Tonks and Michael sat up and rubbed sleep from their bleary eyes. After several attempts, the Healers were able to awaken Remus. The tired and sore man groaned slightly as he raised himself to a sitting position. "What's going on?" he asked in a weak voice.

"Oh, we have the best news for you," Neville answered very excitedly. "We found a cure!"

"A cure for what?"

"For you!"

"What do I need cured of?" Remus asked confused. Suddenly, he looked intently at his former student. "No? Really? Oh, Merlin," he raked his fingers through is hair.

Harry grinned as he listened to the conversation and figured out what they were referring to.

The other man with Neville spoke up in a squeaky voice, "I have been working on finding a cure for lycanthropy for years and was very close but seemed to missing an ingredient or two. I had been researching several plants to find if any of them were the missing ingredient. At Lori's wedding reception, I was seated next to Neville and we began talking about my work. He suggested several plants for me to try and we left to go back to my lab. That is why we were gone when the attack happened," he shook his head sadly as he thought about what had happened after they had left.

"And we found what we needed!" Neville thrust a vial of blue liquid at Remus. "Drink this once a month at the full moon and no more transforming!"

Remus took the vial with a shaking hand, "Are you sure?"

"About 99, since we haven't had a full moon yet we can't be 100 sure but I don't see any reason why it won't work. I'm going to test it this week during the full moon. You are welcome to try it with me," the short man replied.

"You're a werewolf too?" Remus questioned.

He nodded and smiled at Remus, "Since I was just a kid. So are you going to join me?"  
Remus looked at the Healers, "Is it safe?"

"As far as we can tell, there should be no side effects other than not transforming."

Remus grinned bigger than Harry had ever seen him, "Of course I'm joining you. This is what I have been searching for for years. Thank you!" He enthusiastically shook hands with the other werewolf and Neville. His family smothered him in a group hug. When they released him, he looked toward the other bed and hollered, "Harry, did you hear? I'm going to be cured!"

Harry laughed, "Congratulations, I am so happy for you."


	26. Thank You

A/N  
We are coming to the end of this journey and I want to thank everyone who has read this far, especially those of you who have taken the time to review. As I wind this story down, I would like to find out if anyone would be interested in reading a sequel and what you would like a possible sequel to focus on. The ideas I had are: a) a story following the 'next generation' (ex. Jason, Jamie, Ron's kids, Vaughn, etc.) b) another adventure for Harry and Company (ex. tracking down Lucius) c) a story taking place prior to this one (ex. how Lori and Megan came in contact with Harry or what everyone else was doing while Harry was gone) or d) something else.

Please let me know if you would be interested in another story and if you have a preference as to what it should be about. Thanks! And now on with the chapter...

After awhile, Harry got up to leave the excited group. He told Jason he would come back and check on him later. On his way back to the waiting room, he noticed a light shining from under Draco's door.

He slowly pushed the door open and was surprised that Draco was not in his bed. The blond man was standing at the window and staring out into the night. Harry softly cleared his throat from the doorway to alert Draco to his presence.

"Malfoy," he quietly spoke from the doorway.

The blond man turned his head from the window and stared at Harry with an unreadable expression, "How are they?"

Harry smiled tiredly and made his way into the room, "They're going to be fine. Thank you," he reached a hand out to shake Draco's hand.

Draco nodded and silently shook Harry's hand.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Harry questioned.

"It's a long story, and it's not very happy. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yes, I want to understand," Harry stated simply. "I want to know how I was so wrong about you for so long."

Draco gave a short laugh and limped back to sink onto the bed, "Well, you weren't always wrong. I was quite a snot to you back in school. We really hated each other, didn't we?"

"Well," Harry laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. What caused you to change?"

"It will probably be easier to show you rather than tell you. Professor Dumbledore left a pensieve here earlier so I could give him my memories of my father's crimes." He pulled a small container off of the bedside table and used his wand to extract several memories. He then motioned Harry forward to enter. The ground felt as though it had fallen away as Harry leaned forward and touched the substance. He then felt himself in Draco's memories.

Draco Malfoy was bored…again. This time the cause of his boredom was a dinner party his parents were having to celebrate his engagement to Pansy Parkinson. To the guests he played the role of happily engaged heir perfectly but inside he was plotting a way to escape the crowd of mostly his parents' friends. He finally was able to slip away from everyone and took his drink out on to the verandah to get some fresh air. After a few minutes he heard Pansy step out onto the porch and call his name. He was not sure why but he cast a disillusionment spell to hide himself until she went back inside. Ever since they had gotten engaged she had been annoying him more than usual, he did not know why this was, to be honest she had not changed and it had practically been decided when they had been born that they would one day marry. So he did not know what the problem was.

A voice in the back of his head kept telling him that yes, he did know why. After unsuccessfully trying to not think about it, he gave up and pondered the probable cause. He and Pansy were not the only couple from his year at Hogwarts to have recently gotten engaged. Only yesterday, he had run into the other couple; Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. As much as it pained him he had to admit, he was jealous of them. Jealous because he wanted someone to look at him the way Hermione looked at Ron and he wanted to get the same look in his own eyes that Ron did when looking at his fiancée. He was not dumb, he knew Pansy was in love with the idea of marrying the heir of the Malfoy fortune not with him personally. And he was not in love with her either, it was just that once again he was letting his parents run his life.

He only had a few more minutes of peace before his mother came looking for him, "Oh, there you are, dear." She came closer and pulled him by the arm back into the party, "Several people are getting ready to leave and want to tell you good-bye."

Once again he played the role that was expected of him and graciously bid everyone a good night with his arm around his fiancée. He told his parents, Pansy, and her parents that he was going to head on back to his flat because he had drunk quite a bit and had a slight headache. This was of course a lie, he had been sipping on the same drink all evening but they did not know that.

The next morning his feelings of frustration had increased and he felt restless so he decided to take a walk. He was surprised when after walking a long time, he looked up and found himself in the middle of Muggle London. A small pub was across the street from him and he realized he was hungry. He ordered a sandwich and a large mug of beer and waited somewhat impatiently for the waitress to bring them to him. His impatience must have made her nervous because she stumbled and the beer went into his lap. He closed his eyes and counted to ten before opening them. He had been all prepared to yell at her but her fear filled brown eyes stopped him.

"I'm so sorry…oh, my God…here, let me dry it for you," she started to wipe the wet area and turned bright red when she realized she was dabbing his crotch. "Maybe you should do it," she handed him the towel she was using. "I'll get you another…I'll be right back." She scurried off before he could reply to anything.

While she was gone, he subtly used a drying spell to dry his pants. She hurried over carefully with a new mug, "Here you go…you're food will be done in just a minute…hey, you got your pants dry already…I'm so sorry about dumping that on your lap."

He glanced at her nametag, "It's okay, Anna. No harm done," he flashed her a smile. For a Muggle, she was very cute, he thought. "I'm Draco," he stuck a hand out to shake hers.

She gratefully shook his hand, "That's an interesting name…I don't think I've ever heard it before."

"It's a family name," he told her.

"It's nice…unlike my boring name," she made a face.

"No, your name is lovely which is fitting for a lovely girl," he assured her.

She blushed, "That is so sweet of you."

He noticed he was still holding her hand and let go of it. She stepped back, "I'm going to go check on your food." She scampered back to the kitchen and returned with it a few minutes later, "Here you go…you made a good choice…this is one of my favorites."

"Then I'm sure it will be wonderful," he smiled before taking a large bite. "You have good tastes…this is superb."

"I'll let the cook know," she grinned. "Well, I have to go check on my other tables before I get off. It was nice talking to you."

"Yes, it was," he realized that it really had been nice talking to her if for no other reason than she had no preconceived ideas about him based on his family name. He surprised himself by calling out to her, "Anna, would you like to hang out some more when you get off?"

She beamed at him, "That sounds great…I'll be done in about thirty minutes."

He finished his food and wondered about what he was doing. Before he could ponder it too much she returned with her jacket over one arm.

"Ready?" he asked and offered her his arm.

"Yep, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know…do you just want to take a walk?"

They did walk a while until they came to a small park where they found a bench to sit on. For several hours they sat and talked. Finally, she looked at her watch, "Oh my goodness, I was supposed to be at my mum's an hour ago." She quickly pulled her mobile phone from her purse and dialed her mum. After a hurried conversation involving several made up excuses she hung up and grinned at Draco, "Do you think she bought any of that?"

"I'm going to go with a no," he laughed at the face she made.

"Well, I better get over there before she kills me. Will I see you again?" She scrawled a phone number on a scrap of paper she had pulled from her purse, "This is my mobile number, that's the best way to reach me…leave a message if I don't answer and I'll call you back."

He looked at the number for a few seconds and hoped she did not expect one back from him since he did not have one, "Thanks…I'll be in touch soon, I promise."

She hugged him quickly before hurrying toward the underground. Before entering, she turned and waved at him.

The next day, he went back to the pub where he had met her, he did not have a phone and figured it would not be a good idea to send an owl, he had to wait nearly an hour until her shift started. He used the time to think about what he was doing, he was engaged and here he was waiting for another woman. A Muggle woman at that, he laughed to himself as he imagined the conversation if he were to tell his parents that he was breaking up with Pansy for a Muggle.

"What's so funny?" Anna had snuck up on him.

"Nothing," he smiled down at her. "Just thinking about a conversation with my dad."

The pub was busy and she did not have much time to visit with him but he stayed at the pub all day. He passed the time by reading the paper, watching some of the televisions playing above the bar but mostly by just watching her. After a couple of days spent in that same manner, she asked him to come to her flat for dinner on her day off. He happily agreed and now found himself waiting nervously for her to open the door. The sight of her at the moment when she greeted him made him realize that he had to break things off with Pansy, the love of his life was standing in front of him right now.

"Hi," she smiled warmly. "I hope you like spaghetti…I'm not much of a cook but I figured it would be hard to mess that up," she giggled.

"It smells great," he embraced her. "You look lovely," he complimented her.

"Thanks," she stepped back toward the kitchen. "Have a seat and dinner will be done in about five minutes."

He took the time that she was in the kitchen to explore the living room. A few photos were scattered around the room. He was looking at one of her with another young woman that resembled her and two small children.

"That's me and my sister with her kids," she explained as she came up behind him. "Dinner's done…do you want some wine?"

"Sure," he followed her to the table. The simple pasta meal was the best he had ever had because she had made it special for him. After dinner, he helped clean up which was a first for him. Once the table was cleared and the dishes in the dishwasher, they settled on the couch. It was not long before his lips were on hers. Their kisses quickly became more passionate. She pulled back slightly, "We need to stop." Her voice was breathless.

He groaned slightly and sat back up, "Are you sure?"

She smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder, "Yes, I don't even know your last name."

"Malfoy…my last name is Malfoy," he tried to pull her over onto his lap.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid I have to stick with my first answer. I have to leave you with a reason to come back."

"You're a tease," he hugged her good-naturedly. "And I will definitely be back."

As promised, he did return…often, nearly every evening in fact. It was one of these evenings when they were cuddling together on the sofa when he knew without a doubt what he had to do. He had to tell her about his heritage and why he had to walk away from that very heritage to be with the one person he had ever loved.

"Anna, sweetie," he spoke quietly and twirled a lock of her hair around one of his fingers.

"Hmm?" she turned slightly to look up into his eyes.

"There's something I need to tell you," he scooted himself to a sitting position and settled her against his chest.

"This sounds serious," she gripped his hand. "You're not married or something, are you?"

"No," he began. "I was to be married to the girl my parents picked out for me long ago. But then I met the only woman I want to spend my life with."

"You are going to have to explain a little more," she said with a slight warning in the tone of her voice.

He sighed, "There's a lot I need to explain to you. I guess I should start with the basics." He let out another deep breath, "I'm a wizard."

"What?" Anna looked at him with bewilderment.

"I know it probably sounds crazy to you but I'm telling you the truth," he stood up and grabbed his jacket and pulled his wand out of the pocket. "Here, I'll show you," he muttered an incantation and she was showered with flower petals.

"How did you do that?"

"That was nothing," he winked at her and leaned down to kiss her. "I'll show you some real magic."

"As appealing as that sounds, you still have some explaining to do," she pushed him slightly.

He sat back down next to her, "Like I said, I am a wizard, just like my dad and his dad and his dad…you get the idea. I went to a school for wizards and witches…there's a whole magical society right here in England." He proceeded to explain the current situation to her and why it was that he had to abandon his roots in order to be with her. "Anna, darling, I can handle anything and leave everything else behind if I have you with me."

"Whoa," she bit her bottom lip. "This is a lot to take in…I'm not sure what to think." She laid her palms against his chest, "But I know what I feel and I know that I have fallen in love with you."

He gathered her close to him, "Baby, I love you so much."

The couple soon settled into a simple Muggle life. Anna got a job in a small law office as a secretary and her father hired Draco to work at his bookstore. Anna's family loved their youngest daughter's new husband and it was not long before they welcomed what they hoped would be the first of many children. Vaughn Alexander Malfoy was the spitting image of his father and the light of both of his parents' lives.

The little boy grew quickly and was almost two years old when one day his father took him to the small local park. The little boy toddled along holding his dad's hand. A little girl about his own age who was playing in a sandbox captured Vaughn's attention.

"Twuck," he pointed to the toy she was playing with. "My twuck," his bottom lip stuck out.

"No, Vaughn. That's her toy…your truck's at home," Draco patiently explained to his son. "But if you ask nicely she might let you play with her," he bent down to talk to the two toddlers.

"Me play, too?" Vaughn asked.

"Kay," the little girl nodded and reached one of her toys toward him.

Draco smiled at the two kids playing happily together and settled his tall frame onto the ground next to them. Something about the little girl was vaguely familiar to him but he could not put his finger on what it was about her.

"Georgia, honey, it's time to go home," a woman's voice called out.

The little girl playing with Vaughn looked up, "Mummy!"

"Did you make a new friend?"

Draco recognized the voice and swallowed hard before looking up at her. He was unsure of what her reaction would be. "Granger," he nodded at her.

Hermione's eyes widened, "Actually, its Weasley now."

He grinned at her, "Doesn't surprise me too much. I take it this is your daughter."

"Yep, she's mine," Hermione smiled warmly down at the little girl before looking at Vaughn, "And he has to be yours, he's the image of you."

"And excuse me if I'm being forward but it appears you are trying to follow in your husband's parents' footsteps," he looked pointedly at her very pregnant belly.

She laughed and laid a hand over her stomach, "I don't know about that…I may stop after this one is born." She looked at him thoughtfully, "You look different. You look…happy."

He chuckled, "I am…happy, that is."

"What…um, what happened to you? I mean…you just kind of disappeared."

"I got married," he explained and nervously ran a hand along the back of his neck. "She's…um, well, you see, she's a Muggle. So as you can imagine, it was best for me to walk away from my family." He looked at her intently, "Please don't tell anyone that you saw me, I don't want my wife or son in danger."

"She sounds very nice," Hermione said. "And your secret is safe with me. It was good seeing you. I'm glad you're happy." She reached a hand out to shake his, "Take care of yourself. Come on, Georgie girl. We don't want to keep your daddy waiting too long."

Draco watched the two of them walk away before swinging Vaughn up onto his shoulders and walking home. When he reached their small house, something in the air made his heart speed up and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He pulled Vaughn down from his shoulders to hug him tightly to his chest.

"No…no," he desperately said under his breath. He closed his eyes briefly before pulling the door open, "Anna! Honey! Anna, are you home?"

"Mummy!" Vaughn joined his father in calling for his mother.

Father and son continued through the house, calling for Anna. When they reached the kitchen, Draco felt his body go numb except for his fingers and toes which tingled. Lying motionless on the kitchen floor with lifeless eyes looking at the ceiling was his beloved Anna.

"No!" he choked on a sob as he dropped to her side. "Wake up! You can't be dead…you can't," he whimpered.

Vaughn struggled to be released from his father's arms, "Mama?" He patted her face with his chubby toddler hands. "Mama!" he started to shriek when she did not answer him.

Draco pulled the little boy close to him again, "Shh…it's okay little man…daddy's got you. It'll be okay." He murmured into Vaughn's hair and kissed the top of his head. He noticed a paper on the table out of the corner of his eye and pulled himself up to read it.

_No one disobeys me without facing the consequences. You cannot hide from me._

He panicked when he recognized the handwriting as that of his father. He knew he had to get Vaughn somewhere safe, he would not let his father get his hands on his son. It was a few days later when Draco knocked on his sister-in-law's door with Vaughn in his arms.

"Draco," the woman looked surprised to see him. "Come in," she stepped back to let him in.

"Heather, I need you to do something for me," he unconsciously tightened his hold on his son.

"I'll do anything for you," she assured him.

"I need to leave Vaughn with you for a while. I have to take care of some things and it will be safer for him to be here with you."

"Of course he can stay here," she looked at him with sincerity and compassion in her eyes.

"Thank you," he pressed a kiss into the little boy's soft hair. "Vaughn, you going to stay with Aunt Heather for a little while," he started to explain. "Daddy loves you and I'll be back for you as soon as I can. Be a good boy." He transferred the child to Heather's waiting arms. "I love you, son," he ran a fleeting hand over the blonde hair.

As he walked out the front door, he could hear the little boy's wails, "DADDY! DADDY!"

It took all of his strength to keep walking away from his son but he knew this was the only way to keep Vaughn safe. A single tear escaped as he rounded the corner and apparated away.

Harry felt himself land hard on the tile floor of the hospital room. He looked at the other man with sympathy shining in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. She seemed like such a wonderful person." He replayed a few scenes in his head, "That was why Hermione tried to save you last night. She knew you had changed. I don't know if it means anything but I'm glad she did. You've already suffered more than enough, I'm glad to finally know the true you."

Draco swallowed hard and turned his head to stare out the window. He was silent for several seconds before speaking again. Harry intently watched his former classmate as he continued his story, "I realized how evil my father was. Harry, he killed her," his voice cracked and he buried his face in his hands. He roughly wiped at his eyes and looked back at Harry, "I didn't know what to do. I remembered that I had family in America. So I located one of my cousins, I knew that she worked for the wizard protection program and even if I could not use that, I figured she could give me some advice on how to keep my father from finding me and my son. Harry, I'm so sorry, my father followed me and killed Megan. I was able to escape because of her." A painful look came into his silver eyes, "I did the only thing I could to insure Vaughn would have a better childhood than I did. I left him with Anna's family, they love him and he's happy." He smiled slightly, "Dumbledore told me that he was accepted at Hogwarts and he's starting this year. I'm going to go see him there. Hopefully he will understand why I did what I did and will forgive me."

"I'm sure he will," Harry assured his former nemesis. "How did you end up where Percy found you?"

"After Vaughn was safe with his aunt, I became reckless. I wanted nothing more than to make my father pay for what he did. Unfortunately, it was not a good idea to try to fight him and all of his minions by myself. They captured me and kept me at the manor for several years. A while ago, they transferred me to where Percy was. I imagine he already told you what happened from that point."

"Yeah, he did."

There was a soft knock at the door. They both looked up to see Julius standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Harry. How are you doing, Draco?" he greeted them both.

Harry stood up to leave so Julius could visit privately with his nephew, "I'm going to go check on Ginny." After shaking hands with both of the Malfoys, he walked towards Ginny's room with his heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time.


	27. Finally Home

Several days later the Potter family and several Weasleys were gathered together at Kings Cross Station. Fred and Lori were not there because they had left again for their honeymoon. Molly was still recovering, although she had been transferred to St. Mungo's in order to be closer to her family, so she and Arthur too were missing from the group. But everyone else made a boisterous bunch as they proceeded to Platform 9 ¾.

Ginny and Jamie had just stepped through the barrier. Harry and Jason were preparing to follow them when something caught Harry's eye. He sent Jason on with Ron. What had caught his eye was a small boy pushing a cart by himself. There was an owl in a cage perched on the top of a trunk. The boy looked completely lost as he sighed deeply and brushed his blond hair out of his eyes.

Harry approached him, "Are you looking for the Hogwart's Express?"

The boy looked up at him gratefully, "Yes, the letter said to go to Platform 9 ¾ but I can't find it. Do you know where it is?"

"Come with me, my daughter is starting her first year at Hogwarts and I came to see her off," Harry looked around. "Are you by yourself?"

"Yeah, my aunt dropped me off but she had to take my cousin to the doctor and couldn't stay."

Harry smiled at the child. He reminded him of himself when he first started at Hogwarts and was alone and confused. It had been Molly Weasley who had helped him.

"Are you a wizard?" the youngster questioned timidly.

"Yes, I am," Harry replied as he led him to the barrier.

"My dad was a wizard but I haven't seen him for a long time. He had to leave me at my aunt and uncle's when I was little after my mum died. And I never saw him again. My aunt told me that he had to because he loved me and was protecting me. But I really miss him, I kind of hope he might be able to come see me now that I'm going to school. He went to Hogwarts, too."

Harry then had a suspicion as to who he was talking to, "You aren't Vaughn, are you?" he asked.

"Yeah," Vaughn looked at him with shock. "How did you know that?"

"I know your father and I have a feeling you will be seeing him sometime soon."

"Really?" Vaughn looked at him hopefully.

Harry nodded as they reached the brick wall. Vaughn stopped and looked around, "Where's the platform?"

"Right through there," Harry indicated the barrier in front of them with a chuckle. "Trust me and all you have to do is walk straight at the wall." At the boy's unbelieving look he continued, "Come on, I'll go with you."

Much to Vaughn's amazement they stepped through and he got his first sight of the Hogwart's Express. "Thank you, sir," he told Harry before heading off to load his luggage onto the train.

Harry headed over to where Ginny was tearfully embracing Jamie, "Write to me a lot, okay? And study hard and stay out of trouble. But have fun."

"Okay, mum," Jamie said with a very slight roll of her eyes.

Ginny hugged her tighter, "I love you, Jae."

"I know I love you, too."

Harry put an arm on Ginny's shoulder and smiled at Jamie, "Have fun, kiddo."

Jamie pulled free from her mum and embraced her dad, "I love you, dad. I'm going to miss you guys but I promise I will write a lot. Hedwig will probably get mad at how many letters I make her deliver."

Bill's son, Chris, ran past them, "Hi, Aunt Ginny. Hi, Uncle Harry. Hurry up Jamie or all the good seats will be taken!"

"Okay, I'm coming! Bye mum, bye dad," she was surprised by Jason running up and hugging her, "Bye Jason."

"Bye Jamie, write me a letter and tell me about Hogwarts, okay?"

Georgia came up behind her and tugged on her arm, "Come on, Jae. Let's go before my dad starts crying again. It's embarrassing."

Harry and Ginny laughed at her comment. After giving her parents a final hug, Jamie ran off after her cousins. Ron and Hermione came over and joined them. Ron was still sniffling as he watched his oldest climb the steps and board the train. In a few moments, Jamie and Georgia hung their heads out one of the windows. As the train began to pull out of the station, the two girls waved until the train was out of sight.

The families soon departed and went their separate ways. Later that evening, Harry was sitting with Ginny on the sofa and Jason was lying on the floor reading his dad's old copy of Quidditch Through Ages. A tapping was heard on the window. Harry leaned back and pushed the window opened. The snowy white form of Hedwig soared in and landed on Harry's arm. He took the letter and patted the owl on the head.

"What's that Harry?" Ginny asked.

"A note from Jamie," he read it aloud to them.

_Hi mum, dad, and Jason, _

_Hogwarts is so much fun and I already love it here. I'm in Gryffindor! So are Georgia and two other first years I met on the train. Their names are Vaughn Malfoy and Stephen Bernstein. They both grew up in Muggle homes and have tons of questions. But they seem really nice. Well, I better get to bed so I'm not too tired in my classes tomorrow._

_Love, _

_Jamie_

Harry grinned as he reached the end of the letter. He could not remember ever feeling happier than right now. Ginny was snuggled up next to him and struggling to keep her eyes open. Jason was humming to himself as he flipped through the pages of the book. And his little girl was starting her own journey at Hogwarts. He sighed happily and looked at the various photographs of family and friends lined up on the mantle. He was finally home.

A/N

_Aldavinur_: I am honored that you want to translate my story and feel free to. And to answer your question regarding whether or not I am going to continue on the other story (Too Soon): I had not really planned on it but I am planning on a few more one shots involving the characters in this story.

I am in the planning stages of a sequel so I hopefully I will start posting it soon but I make no promises : ) In the meantime, I have a few one-shots based on the characters in this story that I may put up once I've edited them.

Thanks again for reading and to those of you who reviewed: THANK YOU! THANK YOU: )


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